Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
*MBM038* 12/06/2024 11:45:00 AM MBM038
State of Arkansas 1
95th General Assembly A Bill 2
Regular Session, 2025 HOUSE BILL 1070 3
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By: Representative John Carr 5
By: Senator J. Bryant 6
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For An Act To Be Entitled 8
AN ACT TO CREATE THE BALLOT DRAW STANDARDIZATION ACT 9
OF 2025; TO AMEND ARKANSAS LAW CONCERNING THE DRAWING 10
OF LOTS TO DETERMINE THE ORDER IN WHICH THE NAMES OF 11
CANDIDATES APPEAR ON THE BALLOT; AND FOR OTHER 12
PURPOSES. 13
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Subtitle 16
TO CREATE THE BALLOT DRAW 17
STANDARDIZATION ACT OF 2025. 18
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 20
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SECTION 1. TITLE. This act shall be known and may be cited as the 22
"Ballot Draw Standardization Act of 2025". 23
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SECTION 2. Arkansas Code § 7 -5-207(c), concerning the draw for ballot 25
position, is amended to read as follows: 26
(c)(1)(A) The order in which the names of the candidates shall appear 27
on the ballot shall be determined by lot at a public meeting of the county 28
board of election commissioners not less than seventy -two (72) days before 29
the general election. 30
(B)(i) The lot to determine the order in which a 31
candidate’s name appears on the ballot shall be drawn by the candidate or his 32
or her designee. 33
(ii) Except as provided in subdivision 34
(c)(1)(B)(iii) of this section, a person shall not be designated to draw by 35
lot for more than one (1) candidate at the public meeting under subdivision 36 HB1070
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(c)(1)(A) of this section to determine the order in which the names of the 1
candidates appear on the ballot. 2
(iii) If a candidate does not appear in person to 3
draw by lot and does not designate a person to draw by lot on his or her 4
behalf, the lot shall be drawn by a member of the county board of election 5
commissioners or a person designated by the county board of election 6
commissioners. 7
(C) Lots shall be drawn in the following order: 8
(i) First, by all candidates who appear in person at 9
the drawing of lots, with the order in which the candidates draw by lot 10
determined by the filing date and time of each candidate, beginning with the 11
candidate who filed for office first and, if the candidates filed for office 12
on the same date, the candidate who filed for office first in time; 13
(ii) Second, by all persons designated by a 14
candidate to draw by lot on his or her behalf, with the order in which the 15
designees draw by lot determined by the filing date and time of the each 16
candidate appointing the designee, beginning with the candidate who filed for 17
office first and, if the candidates filed for office on the same date, the 18
candidate who filed for office first in time; and 19
(iii) Third, by members of the county board of 20
election commissioners or persons designated by the county board of election 21
commissioners if a candidate does not appear in person and does not designate 22
a person to draw by lot on his or her behalf, with the order in which the 23
members or persons draw by lot determined by the filing date and time of each 24
candidate who does not appear in person or appoint a designee, beginning with 25
the candidate who filed for office first and, if the candidates filed for 26
office on the same date, the candidate who filed for office first in time. 27
(2) Notice of the public meeting under subdivision (c)(1)(A) of 28
this section shall be given by publication in a newspaper of general 29
circulation in the county at least three (3) days before the drawing. 30
(3) For runoff elections, the ballot order for eligible 31
candidates shall be the same as for the previous election leading to the 32
runoff. 33
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