Overview
- Republican voters are choosing nominees for secretary of state and Miller County Judge after no candidate won a majority in the March 3 primary.
- State Sen. Kim Hammer faces Bryan Norris for secretary of state, a post that runs Arkansas elections, business filings, and the Capitol complex.
- Election rules are a core divide: Norris backs fully hand-counted ballots, while Hammer wrote a 2023 law that keeps ballots compatible with tabulators and puts any hand-count costs on counties.
- Hammer is backed by top Arkansas Republicans such as Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Sen. Tom Cotton, while Norris draws support from Michael Flynn and Mike Lindell, figures tied to 2020 election denial.
- Early voting has closed, more than 13,000 GOP runoff ballots were in by late last week, winners advance to face Democrats Kelly Grappe for secretary of state and Ulysses Brewer for Miller County Judge, and any recount must be requested and paid for by a candidate.