LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) said Thursday that a voter registration issue only affected people who tried to update their address earlier this year.
According to the DFA, the automated system that notified them of changes was not working properly.
This comes one day after the Arkansas Secretary of State's Office claimed Arkansans who recently registered to vote at the DMV might not actually be registered.
Scott Hardin with the Department of Finance and Administration, which includes Driver Services, shared a statement regarding the issue:
"We are following up with a number of voters that changed their address during a specific time frame earlier this year," Hardin said. "This is not regarding overall voter registration, just ensuring an updated address is accurately reflected at the local level. DFA is in the process of following up with voters who changed their county of address earlier in 2024 to make sure their new address is accurately reflected in county records."
Hardin also explained that there's no question regarding whether or not individuals who registered to vote at DMVs are actually registered because their registrations were completed; rather, they are reaching out to existing voters who submitted address changes earlier this year to make sure their addresses are accurate in county records.
Additionally, he said there is an automated process in which address changes are distributed from DFA to the appropriate people, and there's no confirmation that the system entirely transferred the addresses during an early period of 2024.
"We are communicating expansively with anyone that submitted an address change [for their voter record] during that time... this is not regarding new voter registration, just address changes for existing voters," Hardin said. "In total, we will send 60,000-plus letters. We will suggest they verify the address listed on the voter record."
Hardin said the letters are being sent out of an "abundance of caution," and the number of changes not reflected on records may be a tiny percentage of those receiving a letter.
The Department of Finance and Administration is working to contact anyone who submitted an address change in early 2024 to verify that their correct addresses are shown on county records.
When asked about this news, Former Pulaski County Election Commissioner Josh Price told us that this happens often to some degree. Price said that during his time as commissioner, which includes the 2020 election, he saw people who said they registered at the DMV but had to be turned away at the polls because they weren't "properly registered."
Hardin suggested people check locally to verify the new address is on the voter records. Voters can check their registration at any time on the Arkansas Secretary of State's website.
We will update this story with more information as it becomes available.