02/16/2026
A bit long, but reading this and discussing it with others until you understand it, can save you time and confusion at the poll.
Early Voting in our Partisan Primaries (Republican & Democrat), Non-Partisan Elections (Judicial and School Boards), and Special Elections (Compensation for Hot Springs City Directors - on ballots of city residents, and Diamondhead annexation - on ballots of Garland County residents in the town of Diamondhead as well as a portion of the voters who reside in the Hot Spring County area of the Diamondhead community being considered for annexation into the newly formed town of Diamondhead) begins Tuesday, Feb. 17th.
Since the primary is an election for the Democratic and Republican parties to select which of their candidates will appear on the ballot next fall - for actual election to office - you'll be asked to choose a ballot when you check in to vote. While you can vote for some from each party on one ballot next fall, in the primary you only get to help one party select their candidates (players for their team) to oppose candidates (players) from other parties in the fall election.
If you select a Non-Partisan ballot it will only have non-partisan races or issues on it. This is the actual election for those positions (judges and school board members) since they don't run with a party affiliation. The winner in March gets the position.
Everything on the Non-Partisan ballot is also included on both the Democratic and Republican ballots. Those party ballots also contain candidates of the same party who are running against one another to see who will get to represent their party on the ballot next fall and actually get the office if they win.
One change this year... the Republican party voted to partially close their primary. That means any voter registered as a Democrat may not participate in the Republican primary. If you are registered with NO party affiliation (as are approx. 90% of voters in Garland County) or registered as a Republican you'll get your choice of a Republican, Non-Partisan, or Democratic ballot (the Democrats didn't close their primary). Those with no party affiliation are shown on Voter View as "Optional"
There is a link on this post to Voter View. It is part of the Secretary of State's website. Enter your first and last name and date of birth. If you're currently registered to vote in Arkansas your page will pull up. It will show your address. Beside your address it will show your party affiliation or the word "Optional" if you haven't specified a party preference.
If you've moved, contact the county clerk to update your address since your ballot is based on your residential address. It can be updated at the poll, as can your party affiliation, but it will save you time to do it before you go.
Below that will be YOUR sample ballots followed by a list of voting locations and the days and hours which they will be open.
https://www.voterview.ar-nova.org/voterview
