The Senate on Wednesday approved a bill to require Arkansas voters to show photo ID at the polls. House Bill 1047 by Rep. Mark Lowery, R-Maumelle, passed in a 25-8 vote, reaching with one vote to spare the two-thirds majority vote needed for passage in the 35-member Senate. The bill passed in the House in a 74-21 vote in January and now goes back to that chamber for concurrence in Senate amendments. Sen. Larry Teague, D-Nashville, was the only Senate Democrat to join with Republicans in voting for the bill Wednesday. Democrats cast all the votes against it.
Under the bill, a voter who did not show photo ID at his or her polling place could cast a provisional ballot. The voter would be given the option of signing a sworn statement that the voter is who he or she claims to be, and the county clerk would compare the signature to the signature on the voter registration card issued to that person to see if they match and the ballot should be counted.
Alternatively, a voter casting a provisional ballot could choose to show photo ID to the county clerk or county election board before noon on the Monday after the election to have the ballot counted.
… The Senate passed Lowery’s bill a day after giving final legislative approval to House Joint Resolution 1016 by Rep. Robin Lundstrum, R-Springdale, a proposed constitutional amendment that would require voters to show photo ID. The Senate vote cleared the way the proposal to be on the November 2018 ballot.
Full Article: Arkansas Senate approves voter ID bill.