---
type: "Bill"
title: "TO ALLOW ABSENTEE VOTING FOR A RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCE; AND TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING ABSENTEE VOTING."
description: "TO ALLOW ABSENTEE VOTING FOR A RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCE; AND TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING ABSENTEE VOTING."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ar"
legislature: "Arkansas Legislature"
session: "2023"
identifier: "SB 247"
citation: "Arkansas SB 247 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["J. Dotson", "Wing"]
version_count: 2
action_count: 15
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2023-02-09T21:36:22+00:00"
last_action: "2023-02-27T22:54:17+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/24530bc1-bbfd-45ee-b620-9165ac1e2c9e"
source_url: "ftp://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/SessionInformation/LegislativeMeasures.txt"
source_hash: "311dbc1291ae4b994a8d568b2f3599a646a5771792eb2cc604573b35c7720c28"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ar"]
---

# Arkansas SB 247 (2023) — TO ALLOW ABSENTEE VOTING FOR A RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCE; AND TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING ABSENTEE VOTING.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Act 141** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Acts/FTPDocument?path=%2FACTS%2F2023R%2FPublic%2F&file=141.pdf&ddBienniumSession=2023%2F2023R)
2. **SB 247** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/assembly/2023/2023R/Bills/SB247.pdf)

## Votes

- Read the third time and passed and ordered transmitted to the Senate. — **82–1** (pass) · lower
- Read the third time and passed. — **28–2** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- J. Dotson — primary (person)
- Wing — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2023-02-09T21:36:22+00:00** Filed `introduction`
- **2023-02-09T21:45:48+00:00** Read first time, rules suspended, read second time, referred to STATE AGENCIES & GOVT'L AFFAIRS-SENATE `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2023-02-14T19:24:24+00:00** Returned by the Committee, with the recommendation that it Do Pass `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-02-15T19:49:53+00:00** Read the third time and passed. `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-02-15T19:50:05+00:00** Ordered immediately transmitted to the House.
- **2023-02-15T21:46:14+00:00** RECEIVED FROM THE SENATE
- **2023-02-15T22:45:15+00:00** Read the first time, rules suspended, read the second time and referred to the Committee on STATE AGENCIES & GOVT'L AFFAIRS- HOUSE `reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2023-02-20T22:49:03+00:00** Returned by the Committee Do Pass `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-21T20:38:53+00:00** Read the third time and passed and ordered transmitted to the Senate. `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-02-21T20:38:59+00:00** Returned To the Senate as passed.
- **2023-02-21T21:59:33+00:00** Returned from the House as passed.
- **2023-02-21T21:59:39+00:00** ORDERED ENROLLED
- **2023-02-22T15:50:40+00:00** Reported correctly enrolled and ordered delivered to the Governor.
- **2023-02-22T15:50:43+00:00** DELIVERED TO GOVERNOR. `executive-receipt`
- **2023-02-27T22:54:17+00:00** Notification that SB247 is now Act 141 `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/24530bc1-bbfd-45ee-b620-9165ac1e2c9e`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Arkansas legislature records).