The same was true of an earlier House vote, where 80 Republicans voted to approve the bill, 16 Democrats voted against the bill, and two members of each party abstained. The bill passed strictly along party lines, with the Senate’s six Democrats voting against the bill and the chamber’s 29 Republicans voting to send the bill to the governor’s desk. Instead, all absentee ballots in the state not delivered by mail are required to be “hand delivered inside the physical office of the county clerk.” The legislation ( pdf) further states that no voter in the state shall deliver an absentee ballot through a drop box. Senate Bill 258 states that county clerks, public employees, or election officials “shall not establish or use a drop box for the purpose of collecting absentee ballots.” The Epoch Times reached out to the governor’s office for comment but did not receive a response by press time.

Sanders, a Republican, has not publicly announced whether she will sign the bills. A separate bill banning private grants for the administration of elections was also passed on March 16 and sent to the governor’s desk.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders for her signature. Legislation to ban drop boxes in Arkansas has been delivered to Gov.

Sign in drop box