Bills Banning Drop Boxes and Private Election Grants Sent to Arkansas Gov. Sanders to Sign

Governor. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has been given the bill for her signature. On March 16, a separate bill that prohibited private grants in the administration of elections was passed and sent to Governor Sanders’ desk.

Sanders, a Republican has not made public statements about whether she will sign the bills. The Epoch Times reached the governor’s office to request comment, but was not able to get a reply by press time.

No More Drop Boxes

Senate Bill 258 provides that county clerks, election officials, and public employees are subject to the provisions of Senate Bill 258. “shall not establish or use a drop box for the purpose of collecting absentee ballots.”

Further, the legislation (pdf), states that absentee ballots cannot be delivered to a drop box by any voter. Instead, absentee votes in the state that are not delivered via mail must be submitted. “hand delivered inside the physical office of the county clerk.”

The bill passed purely on party lines. The Senate’s six Democrats voted against the bill, and the chamber’s 29 Republicans voted for the governor to sign it.

Similar results were obtained in an earlier House vote. 80 Republicans voted for the bill and 16 Democrats voted against it. Two members from each party abstained.

Democrat Opposition to Drop Box Bill

Tippi McCullough (Democratic State Rep.) spoke against the dropbox bill, KUAR reported.

According to the outlet, voter fraud in Arkansas is almost non-existent and ballot boxes are rarely used elsewhere in Arkansas.

“We already have abysmal voter turnout in our state, and this bill does nothing to help increase our civic engagement,” McCullough added that the ballot boxes might have been involved. “afforded a voter the chance to cast their first vote.”

The Epoch Times reached Arkansas Democratic Party for comments, but they did not respond before press time.

Private Grants for Election Administration

Senate Bill 255 reduces the source for election funding in the State. The law currently prohibits county board of election commissioners accepting private grants.

The new legislation (pdf), would prohibit officials or employees of the state or county from accepting or taking any items. “any funding, grants, or gifts, services, or anything else of value, for the purpose of paying election related expenses or performing his or her other duties.”

The document further states that funding can only be provided by sources like municipal, state, or federal governments.

This bill was less controversial than the others, since no Democrat from either chamber voted in opposition to it. The House had four Republicans and one Democrat voting against it.

Similar legislation was introduced federally

Private election funding advocates argue that it helps fund elections offices with limited resources.

Democracy Docket, an advocacy group for progressive causes that focuses on elections and voting rights, supports this argument.

“Though private grants can be crucial to running elections, they have become a target for Republican lawmakers since 2020 when Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg donated over $400 million to election offices through the Center for Technology and Civic Life (CTCL),” Democracy Docket released a statement regarding legislation’s passing. It described it as “an” “anti-voting bill.”

According to the Capital Research Center, an conservative think tank, there are currently 24 states that prohibit or ban private election financing. Those states are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia.

Montana’s Legislature is also looking into a bill to ban private election funding.

Rep. Claudia Tenney (R.N.Y.), introduced similar legislation this week in Congress to ban federal funding.

Tenney has reintroduced “End Zuckerbucks Act” On March 15, the IRS would direct them to stop 501(c), tax-exempt entities from funding official elections.

“CTCL funneled Mark Zuckerberg’s personal wealth to election agencies of his choosing without a shred of transparency or accountability,” She stated this in a press statement. “This kind of influence operation by a third party in America’s elections undermines public confidence in the democratic process. It puts private donors in charge of dictating to government agencies what should and should not be done. We cannot allow organizations like this to flout the law or continue their partisan, private funding of our elections.”