Arkansas Absentee Ballot: Eligibility, Deadlines, and Photo ID

To vote by mail in Arkansas, you need a specific excuse. An Arkansas absentee ballot is available only to voters who are unavoidably absent from their polling place on Election Day, prevented from voting in person by illness or physical disability, or unable to vote during the twelve hours the polls are open because of religious observance.¹ Preferring to vote from home is not enough. Beyond those three excuses, you have to meet strict deadlines, include a copy of your photo ID with the returned ballot, and assemble the return envelope correctly. Arkansas offers no way to fix a defective ballot after you send it in.

Who Can Vote Absentee

Arkansas Code 7-5-402 sets out the only three qualifying reasons for a civilian absentee ballot:

You will be unavoidably absent from your polling place on Election Day.
Illness or physical disability keeps you from voting in person.
A religious discipline or holiday prevents you from voting during the entire twelve hours polls are open.

Two groups vote absentee under different rules. Members of the uniformed services, the Arkansas National Guard, Merchant Marines on active duty, their spouses and dependents, and U.S. citizens residing outside the country qualify under the federal Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act and follow a separate track with a longer return window.² Residents of state-licensed long-term care or residential care facilities also vote absentee, and a facility administrator can handle applications and returns on their behalf.

How to Apply

The application form comes from the Secretary of State and is available through your county clerk’s office or the Arkansas Board of Election Commissioners website.³ You provide your name, residential voting address, date of birth, the election you want a ballot for, and the qualifying reason that applies to you.

Sign the application yourself. The county clerk compares your signature to the one in your voter registration file, and a mismatch means rejection.⁴ If someone helps you complete the form, that person must add their name, address, and signature. Electronic submissions require a verifiable copy of your signature.

Application Deadlines

Your deadline depends on how you submit:

By mail, fax, or email: must arrive at the county clerk’s office no later than seven days before Election Day.
Delivered in person by you or a designated bearer: by the time the clerk’s office closes on the Friday before Election Day.
Delivered by an authorized agent, available to voters medically unable to reach the polls: by 1:30 p.m. on Election Day.

Clerks have no discretion to accept a late application, so build in cushion. If your signature doesn’t match and the clerk rejects the application, you can resubmit, but only if the deadline hasn’t passed.

Photo ID You Must Send Back With the Ballot

Every returned absentee ballot has to include a copy of photo identification. A photocopy is fine; you do not send the original.⁵ The ID must show your name and photograph and be issued by the United States, the State of Arkansas, or an accredited postsecondary institution in Arkansas. If it has an expiration date, it cannot be expired by more than four years on Election Day.

Accepted forms include an Arkansas driver’s license or state photo ID card, U.S. passport, U.S. military ID, concealed handgun carry license, employee badge from an accredited Arkansas college or university, public assistance ID with a photograph, and the voter verification card issued under Arkansas law.⁶ Residents of licensed long-term care or residential care facilities are exempt from the photo ID requirement and instead include documentation from the facility administrator confirming their residency.

Filling Out and Assembling the Return

When your application is approved, the county clerk sends a ballot package: the ballot, an inner ballot envelope, a voter statement form, and an outer return envelope. Assembly is not optional.

Mark the ballot, seal it inside the inner ballot envelope, then place that sealed envelope, your completed voter statement, and your photo ID copy inside the outer return envelope. The voter statement asks for your printed name, signature, mailing address, residential voting address, and date of birth.⁷ You sign under penalty of perjury, and the form warns that false information can bring fines up to $10,000 or imprisonment up to ten years.

During canvassing, election officials compare the name, address, date of birth, and signature on your voter statement against the information you provided on your original application. A clear, easily recognizable signature difference is grounds for rejection.⁸

How to Return the Ballot

Arkansas law recognizes only four return methods, and it prohibits drop boxes entirely. County clerks, public employees, and election officials cannot set up or use them for absentee ballot collection.⁹

U.S. mail, received by the county clerk no later than 7:30 p.m. on Election Day. Each ballot must be mailed separately; bulk mailing multiple ballots is prohibited except by an administrator of a licensed long-term care facility.
In-person delivery by the voter, inside the county clerk’s physical office, by the time the office closes on the Friday before Election Day.
Delivery by a designated bearer or facility administrator, at the clerk’s office by close of business on the Friday before Election Day.
Delivery by an authorized agent, available to voters medically unable to reach the polls, at the clerk’s office by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day, with signature verification and agent identity validation.

Rules for Designated Bearers

A designated bearer is someone who picks up and returns your absentee ballot for you. One bearer may handle ballots for no more than two voters per election and cannot possess more than two absentee ballots at once.¹⁰ The bearer shows photo ID to the clerk and signs an oath both when picking up and when returning the ballot. Their name, address, and signature also have to appear on your voter statement.

Military and Overseas Voters

The most useful difference for military and overseas voters is the extended return window. Ballots from qualified voters outside the United States must be signed, postmarked, and mailed no later than Election Day and can arrive at the county clerk’s office up to ten calendar days after the election and still count. Active-duty military ballots must be executed by Election Day and received within the same ten-day window, with no postmark requirement.⁹

Federal law also requires election officials to deliver blank ballots through at least one electronic method, like email or an online portal. If a ballot doesn’t arrive in time, the Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot is a backup for federal races.¹¹

If Your Application or Ballot Is Rejected

A rejected application gives you a second chance. If the clerk rejects yours because the signature doesn’t match your registration file, the clerk must notify you promptly by phone, email, or first-class mail so you can resubmit.⁴ The rejection is logged in the clerk’s permanent electronic system, and resubmission still has to meet the original deadline.

A rejected ballot does not. Arkansas has no cure process for a deficient voted ballot. If canvassing turns up a missing voter statement, no photo ID copy, or a signature that doesn’t match, the ballot is thrown out, and you typically won’t learn about it until after Election Day. Before you seal the outer envelope, verify that the voter statement is complete, your photo ID copy is inside, and your signature matches the one on your application.

Early Voting Without an Excuse

If your schedule is uncertain but you can reach a polling site before Election Day, early voting is simpler. It requires no excuse. Any qualified voter can show up during the early voting period.

For preferential primary and general elections, early voting runs from fifteen days before the election through 5:00 p.m. on the Monday before Election Day. Hours are 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Saturdays, with state holidays excluded. For other elections, including general primary and runoff elections, the window is shorter: seven days before the election through the day before, during regular county clerk office hours.¹²

Bring the same photo ID required for any in-person vote. If you already requested an absentee ballot and then show up to vote early, you’ll be given a provisional ballot.

Penalties for Fraud

Possessing another person’s absentee ballot with intent to defraud a voter or election official is a Class D felony in Arkansas.¹³ A conviction bars you from holding public office or state employment, removes you from any current government position immediately, and permanently bars you from serving as an election official. Filing a false voter statement carries fines up to $10,000 or imprisonment up to ten years under federal or state law, as the statement itself warns.⁷

1
Justia. Arkansas Code Title 7 Chapter 5 Subchapter 4 Section 7-5-402 – Voter Qualification
2
Arkansas Board of Election Commissioners. Arkansas Board of Election Commissioners – Absentee Voting
3
Justia. Arkansas Code Title 7 Chapter 5 Subchapter 4 Section 7-5-405 – Application Form
4
Justia. Arkansas Code Title 7 Chapter 5 Subchapter 4 Section 7-5-404 – Applications for Ballots
5
Arkansas Secretary of State. 7 CAR 90-107 – Identification Required When Voting Absentee
6
Arkansas Secretary of State. Voter Registration Information
7
Justia. Arkansas Code Title 7 Chapter 5 Subchapter 4 Section 7-5-409 – Materials Furnished to Qualified Voters
8
Arkansas Secretary of State. Arkansas Absentee Canvassing Quick Guide
9
Justia. Arkansas Code Title 7 Chapter 5 Subchapter 4 Section 7-5-411 – Methods of Voting Absentee
10
National Conference of State Legislatures. Ballot Collection Laws
11
U.S. Election Assistance Commission. Best Practices for Serving Military Voters
12
FindLaw. Arkansas Code Title 7 Elections Section 7-5-418 – Early Voting
13
Justia. Arkansas Code Title 7 Chapter 1 Section 7-1-104 – Miscellaneous Felonies – Penalties