Ark. Code Ann. § 7-7-202 (2026)
Preferential and general primaries — When required — Common polling places
- Whenever any political party shall select by primary election party nominees as candidates at any general election for any United States, state, district, county, township, or municipal office, there shall be held a preferential primary election and a general primary election, if required, on the respective dates provided in § 7-7-203(a) and (b).
- A general primary election for a political party shall not be held if there are no races in which three (3) or more candidates qualify for the same office or position as provided in subsection (c) of this section unless a general primary election is necessary to break a tie vote for the same office or position at the preferential primary.
- If there are no races in which three (3) or more candidates qualify for the same office or position, only the preferential primary election shall be held for the political party. If all nominations have been determined at the preferential primary election or by withdrawal of candidates as provided in § 7-7-304(a) and (b), the general primary election shall not be held.
- The county board of election commissioners shall establish common polling places for the joint conduct of the primary elections of all political parties.
History. Acts 1969, No. 465, Art. 1, §§ 8, 10; 1971, No. 261, § 4; A.S.A. 1947, §§ 3-108, 3-110; Acts 1995, No. 901, § 3; 2005, No. 67, § 17; 2009, No. 959, § 35.
Amendments. The 2009 amendment inserted “if required” in (a), and made related changes.
RESEARCH REFERENCES
ALR.
Effect of irregularities or defects in primary petitions—State cases. 14 A.L.R.6th 543.
Case Notes
Constitutionality.
Neither Ark. Const. Amend. 29, § 5, nor this section, which establish and implement the majority vote primary run-off requirement, violate the Fourteenth or Fifteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution or the federal Voting Rights Act. Whitfield v. Democratic Party, 686 F. Supp. 1365 (E.D. Ark. 1988), aff'd in part, reversed in part, 890 F.2d 1423 (8th Cir. 1989).
There is no substantial reason to believe that the majority-vote requirement in this state was originally enacted to prevent black political success. Jeffers v. Clinton, 740 F. Supp. 585 (E.D. Ark. 1990), appeal dismissed, 498 U.S. 1129, 111 S. Ct. 1096, 112 L. Ed. 2d 1200 (1991).
Section 5 of Amendment 29 and its implementing statutes were not enacted nor maintained for racially invidious purposes. Jeffers v. Clinton, 740 F. Supp. 585 (E.D. Ark. 1990), appeal dismissed, 498 U.S. 1129, 111 S. Ct. 1096, 112 L. Ed. 2d 1200 (1991).
Right to Contest.
As a matter of public policy, former similar section gave a candidate in a preferential primary the right to contest that election upon the proper allegations of entitlement to be certified as a candidate in the run-off or general primary election. Porter v. Hesselbein, 235 Ark. 379, 360 S.W.2d 499 (1962) (decision under prior law).
Withdrawal of Candidate.
Withdrawal from race of candidate who received second largest number of votes at preferential primary did not give third highest candidate right to have his name placed on ballot for general primary. Higgins v. Barnhill, 218 Ark. 466, 236 S.W.2d 1011 (1951), overruled in part, Nethercutt v. Pulaski County Special School Dist., 248 Ark. 143, 450 S.W.2d 777 (1970) (decision under prior law).
Cited: Republican Party v. Faulkner County, 49 F.3d 1289 (8th Cir. 1995); Citizens to Establish a Reform Party v. Priest, 970 F. Supp. 690 (E.D. Ark. 1996).