Save the date: Election days and deadlines for Arkansas in 2024

George Fabe Russell, Fort Smith Southwest Times Record
·5 min read

Super Tuesday is almost upon us. As much as it feels like the end of a long climb for residents of the states taking part in it, it’s also the beginning of a new phase for many campaigns, and particularly those for president.

This is when things start to speed up.

There are a lot of important dates coming up, some that everyone across the country will need to know and others that are only observed in some of the counties of Arkansas.

Here they are, all in one place, so that you can stay ahead of the deadlines you’ll need on your calendar to fully participate in the electoral process.

Super Tuesday in Arkansas: Your guide to what's on the ballot and how to vote

March 4, 2024

  • Last day to register to vote in the April 2, 2024, general primary elections.

March 26, 2024

  • Early voting begins for general primary elections and annual school election runoffs.

  • Early voting hours are weekdays from March 26 through April 1, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

April 2, 2024

General primary elections and annual school election runoffs conclude.

“General primary” might sound about as clear as “genuine imitation” or “exact estimate.” But what it means is a runoff election for state legislative and county-level primary races. The top two candidates from any race where no one gets more than 50% of the vote will go to another round one-on-one. The winner of this second round will presumably win their party’s nomination to run in the fall.

Any runoffs for judicial seats from the March 5 elections will be held in November.

You don’t have to have voted in the March 5 preferential primaries to vote on April 2. In fact, you can still register to vote in the general primary as late as March 4. If you did vote on March 5, you’ll need to vote the in same party’s ballot in the runoff as before.

Counties that hold their annual school elections on March 5 will also hold any runoff elections on April 2. Others that hold their school elections in November have runoffs in December.

Many districts won’t have any runoffs, but it won’t be clear which ones until after March 5. You can check with your county board of elections, county clerk or the Secretary of State’s website to see if yours does. The Secretary of State’s site also has tools to find your polling location and view sample ballots: Arkansas Secretary of State | VoterView (ar-nova.org)

On April 2, polling locations will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

September 6, 2024

  • Application opens for Nov. 5, 2024, absentee ballots.

  • See the explanation at the end of this article and/or contact your county clerk’s office.

October 7, 2024

  • Last day to register to vote in the November 5, 2024, general elections.

  • Find out how or check your registration status at the Secretary of State’s website.

October 21, 2024

  • Early voting begins for Nov. 5, 2024, general elections.

  • Early voting hours are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday from Oct. 21 through Nov. 3. Polls close at 5 p.m. on Nov. 4, the last day of early voting.

November 4, 2024

  • Last day to register to vote for the December 3, 2024, general runoff elections.

  • Find out how or check your registration status at the Secretary of State’s website.

November 5, 2024

General election voting concludes

This is the big day we’ve all been waiting for — your last chance to go to the polls. Once all the votes are counted, the general elections will decide races for president, U.S. congress, and the General Assembly, as well as county and municipal positions.

There will also be elections for certain school districts, as well as runoffs for some contested judicial seats.

There are a handful of statewide initiatives on the ballot, including ones concerning medical marijuana, abortion and taxation on menstrual products and diapers.

Find your polling location and view a sample ballot for your district at the Secretary of State’s website.

The polls will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

It’s important to remember that the end of voting isn’t the end of the counting. Many ballots, like the ones received by mail on election day from overseas servicemembers, for instance, might take days or even weeks to count.

Every state has different protocols for tallying and reporting election results and many probably won’t officially declare winners by the end of the night on Nov. 5.

Fact check: Counting votes routinely takes days after polls close, sometimes weeks

December 3, 2024

  • General runoff election.

  • Arkansas county and municipal races where no one wins more than 50% will go to a runoff, along with state and township elections ending in a tie.

  • School elections held on Nov. 5 will also hold any runoffs.

Applying for an absentee ballot

Eligibility for absentee voting is relatively narrow. Applicants must have a disability or illness, be in active uniformed service member, be living abroad or be otherwise “unavoidably absent from their polling site on election day.”

Health concerns related to the risk of COVID-19 exposure at the polls may qualify, however.

The deadline to apply for an absentee ballot in person and then receive, vote and deliver, or have it delivered, in-person to the county clerk’s office is the end of business on the Friday before election day.

The deadline to apply electronically or by mail is seven days before voting concludes. The voted ballot must then be mailed and received by the county clerk by 7:30 p.m. on election day.

Check here for more details and for how to vote absentee with the help of a representative from a hospital or nursing home: Arkansas Secretary of State

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: 2024 Arkansas elections: Key dates for voting