Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
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State of Arkansas 1
95th General Assembly A Bill 2
Regular Session, 2025 SENATE BILL 102 3
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By: Senator B. Davis 5
By: Representative Vaught 6
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For An Act To Be Entitled 8
AN ACT TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING CANVASSERS FOR 9
LOCAL OPTION ELECTIONS; TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING 10
COMPENSATION OF PAID CANVASSERS FOR LOCAL OPTION 11
ELECTIONS; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 12
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Subtitle 15
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING CANVASSERS 16
FOR LOCAL OPTION ELECTIONS; AND TO AMEND 17
THE LAW CONCERNING COMPENSATION OF PAID 18
CANVASSERS FOR LOCAL OPTION ELECTIONS. 19
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 21
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SECTION 1. Arkansas Code § 3 -8-801(3), concerning the definition of 23
"paid canvasser" in local option elections, is amended to read as follows: 24
(3) “Paid canvasser” means a person who is paid or with whom 25
there is an agreement to pay money or anything of value before or after a 26
signature on a local option election petition is solicited in exchange for 27
soliciting or obtaining a signature on a petition; 28
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SECTION 2. Arkansas Code § 3 -8-802 is amended to read as follows: 30
3-8-802. Hiring and training of paid canvassers. 31
(a)(1) A person shall not provide money or anything of value to 32
another person for obtaining signatures on a local option election petition 33
unless the person receiving the money or item of value meets the requirements 34
of this section. 35
(2) Before a signature is solicited by a paid canvasser, the 36 SB102
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sponsor shall: 1
(A) Explain the Arkansas law applicable to obtaining 2
signatures on a local option election petition to the canvasser; and 3
(B)(i) Provide a complete list of all paid canvassers' 4
names and current residential addresses to the county clerk. 5
(ii) If additional paid canvassers agree to solicit 6
signatures on behalf of a sponsor after the complete list is provided, the 7
sponsor shall provide an updated list of all paid canvassers' names and 8
current residential addresses to the county clerk .; 9
(C) Submit to the county clerk a copy of the signed 10
statement provided by the paid canvasser under subdivision (c)(3) of this 11
section; 12
(D) Instruct the paid canvasser to provide the sponsor 13
sufficient information of the paid canvasser's identity to allow the sponsor 14
to obtain the criminal history and criminal record of the paid canvasser 15
within thirty (30) days before the date that the paid canvasser begins 16
collecting signatures; 17
(E) Obtain the criminal history and criminal record of the 18
paid canvasser; and 19
(F) Contact the appropriate authority in the state or 20
jurisdiction if a paid canvasser's criminal history and criminal record 21
indicate an open or pending criminal charge that constitutes a disqualifying 22
offense to determine the ultimate disposition or current status of the 23
charge. 24
(3) Upon filing the petition with the county clerk, the sponsor 25
shall submit to the county clerk a: 26
(A) Final list of the names and current residential 27
addresses of each paid canvasser; and 28
(B) Signature card for each paid canvasser. 29
(b)(1) To verify that there are no disqualifying offenses on record, a 30
sponsor shall obtain, at the sponsor's cost, from the Division of Arkansas 31
State Police, a current state criminal history and criminal record search on 32
every paid canvasser to be registered with the county clerk. 33
(2) The criminal history and criminal record search required by 34
this section shall be obtained within thirty (30) days before the date that 35
the paid canvasser begins collecting signatures. 36 SB102
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(3) Upon submission of the sponsor's list of paid canvassers to 1
the county clerk, the sponsor shall certify to the county clerk that each 2
paid canvasser in the sponsor's employ has no disqualifying offenses in 3
accordance with this section. 4
(4) A willful violation of this section by a sponsor or paid 5
canvasser constitutes a Class A misdemeanor. 6
(5) The sponsor shall bear the ultimate burden of proving that a 7
paid canvasser registered by the sponsor does not have a disqualifying 8
offense in an administrative proceeding or judicial proceeding. 9
(c) Before obtaining a signature on a local option election petition 10
as a paid canvasser, a person shall submit in person or by mail to the 11
sponsor: 12
(1) The full name and any assumed name of the person; 13
(2) The current residence address of the person and the person's 14
permanent domicile address if the person's permanent domicile address is 15
different from the person's current residence address; 16
(3) A signed statement taken under oath or solemn affirmation 17
that states that the person has not pleaded guilty or nolo contendere to or 18
been found guilty of a criminal offense involving a violation of the election 19
laws, fraud, forgery, or identification theft in any state disqualifying 20
offense under § 7-9-601(d)(3)(B) in any state of the United States, District 21
of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, or any other United States protectorate ; 22
(4) A signed statement that the person has read and understands 23
the Arkansas law applicable to obtaining signatures on a local option 24
election petition; and 25
(5) A photograph of the person taken within ninety (90) days of 26
the submission of the information required under this section. 27
(c)(d) A sponsor shall maintain the information required under this 28
section for each paid canvasser for three (3) years after the general 29
election. 30
(e) Signatures incorrectly obtained or submitted under this section 31
shall not be counted by the county clerk for any purpose. 32
(f)(1) It is unlawful for a person to pay or offer to pay a person, or 33
receive payment or agree to receive payment, on a basis related to the number 34
of signatures obtained on a local option petition. 35
(2) This subsection does not prohibit compensation for 36 SB102
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circulating petitions but only compensation for obtaining signatures when the 1
compensation or compensation level is impacted by or related to the number of 2
signatures obtained. 3
(3) A signature obtained in violation of this subsection is void 4
and shall not be counted. 5
(4) A violation under this subsection is a Class A misdemeanor. 6
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SECTION 3. Arkansas Code § 3 -8-805(a), concerning signatures for local 8
option petitions, is amended to add additional subdivisions to read as 9
follows: 10
(4) A person shall not act as a canvasser unless he or she is a 11
citizen of the United States. 12
(5) A person shall not act as a canvasser unless he or she is a 13
resident of this state. 14
15
SECTION 4. Arkansas Code § 3 -8-806(d)(1), concerning form of 16
initiative petitions and sufficiency of signatures, is amended to read as 17
follows: 18
(d)(1) The signature section of the petition shall be formatted as 19
prescribed by the county clerk and shall contain the same number of signature 20
lines prescribed by the county clerk Secretary of State for statewide 21
petitions under § 7-9-104. 22
23
SECTION 5. Arkansas Code § 3 -8-808, concerning the affidavits for 24
canvassers of local option elections, is amended to add additional 25
subsections to read as follows: 26
(e) A canvasser who witnesses signatures on a petition part but 27
knowingly allows another canvasser who did not witness all signatures on a 28
petition part to execute a false verification affidavit with respect to that 29
petition part commits a Class D felony. 30
(f) A sponsor, sponsor's agent, or representative commits a Class D 31
felony if a sponsor, sponsor's agent, or representative: 32
(1) Knowingly pays a canvasser for petition signatures on a 33
petition part not personally witnessed by that paid canvasser; or 34
(2) Knowingly submits to the county clerk a petition part where 35
the verifying canvasser has not witnessed each signature on that petition 36 SB102
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part. 1
2
SECTION 6. Arkansas Code § 3 -8-811(b)(2)-(3), concerning when a 3
petition part and signatures will not be counted, are amended to read as 4
follows: 5
(2) The petition lacks the signature, printed name, and 6
residence address of the canvasser , is signed by a canvasser who does not 7
meet the canvasser requirements of § 3 -8-805(a), or is signed by more than 8
one (1) canvasser; 9
(3)(A) The canvasser is a paid canvasser who does not meet the 10
paid canvasser requirements of § 3 -8-802 or whose name and the information 11
required under § 3-8-802 were not submitted by the sponsor to the county 12
clerk before the petitioner signed the petition. 13
(B) A canvasser is a paid canvasser if he or she is paid 14
money or anything of value for soliciting signatures before or after the 15
signatures are obtained; 16
17
SECTION 7. DO NOT CODIFY. Severability. 18
(a) All provisions of this act, including all sections, subsections, 19
and subdivisions, are severable and if any portion of this act is declared 20
invalid for any reason, then all remaining sections, subsections, and 21
subdivisions of this act shall remain in full effect. 22
(b) It is the intent of the General Assembly that the sections, 23
subsections, and subdivisions of this act are severable, notwithstanding 24
whether the act, section, sections, subsection, subsections, subdivision, or 25
subdivisions at issue are: 26
(1) Meant to accomplish a single purpose; 27
(2) Interrelated; or 28
(3) Dependent upon each other. 29
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