---
type: "Bill"
title: "TO CREATE THE ENSURING ACCESS FOR ALL ARKANSANS AND VOTER PROTECTION ACT OF 2023; TO AMEND THE PROCEDURE FOR THE FILING OF A BALLOT INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM PETITION; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY."
description: "TO CREATE THE ENSURING ACCESS FOR ALL ARKANSANS AND VOTER PROTECTION ACT OF 2023; TO AMEND THE PROCEDURE FOR THE FILING OF A BALLOT INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM PETITION; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ar"
legislature: "Arkansas Legislature"
session: "2023"
identifier: "HB 1419"
citation: "Arkansas HB 1419 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["J. Dotson", "Underwood"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 20
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2023-02-13T22:24:24+00:00"
last_action: "2023-03-07T19:49:40+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/5f85074e-7cae-48cf-8ce9-2d0a9adbc7c7"
source_url: "ftp://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/SessionInformation/LegislativeMeasures.txt"
source_hash: "7ac837a3559d22398a98adca24b4cd970a5a4e7e50f983f979fedee20d87fa19"
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 HB 1419 (2023) — TO CREATE THE ENSURING ACCESS FOR ALL ARKANSANS AND VOTER PROTECTION ACT OF 2023; TO AMEND THE PROCEDURE FOR THE FILING OF A BALLOT INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM PETITION; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY.

## Version chain

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

1. **Act 236** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Acts/FTPDocument?path=%2FACTS%2F2023R%2FPublic%2F&file=236.pdf&ddBienniumSession=2023%2F2023R)
2. **Amendment H1** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Home/FTPDocument?path=%2FAMEND%2F2023R%2FPublic%2FHB1419-H1.pdf)
3. **HB 1419** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/assembly/2023/2023R/Bills/HB1419.pdf)

## Votes

- Read the third time and passed. — **21–8** (pass) · upper
- The Emergency Clause of HB1419 was adopted. — **24–7** (pass) · upper
- Read the third time and passed and ordered transmitted to the Senate. — **79–19** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- J. Dotson — primary (person)
- Underwood — primary (person)
- Achor — cosponsor (person)
- B. McKenzie — cosponsor (person)
- G. Hodges — cosponsor (person)
- Gazaway — cosponsor (person)
- Gonzales — cosponsor (person)
- Hester — cosponsor (person)
- J. Moore — cosponsor (person)
- John Carr — cosponsor (person)
- Lundstrum — cosponsor (person)
- McCollum — cosponsor (person)
- Pilkington — cosponsor (person)
- Rose — cosponsor (person)
- Wardlaw — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-02-13T22:24:24+00:00** Filed `introduction`
- **2023-02-13T22:36:00+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`
- **2023-02-20T22:48:27+00:00** Returned by the Committee with the recommendation that it do pass as amended 1 `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-21T14:31:12+00:00** Placed on second reading for the purpose of amendment.
- **2023-02-21T14:31:14+00:00** Amendment No. 1 read and adopted and the bill ordered engrossed. `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage`
- **2023-02-21T16:10:18+00:00** REPORTED CORRECTLY ENGROSSED
- **2023-02-22T20:09:19+00:00** Read the third time and passed and ordered transmitted to the Senate. `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-02-22T20:09:21+00:00** EMERGENCY CLAUSE ADOPTED
- **2023-02-22T23:03:48+00:00** Received from the House.
- **2023-02-22T23:04:05+00:00** Read first time, rules suspended, read second time, referred to STATE AGENCIES & GOVT'L AFFAIRS-SENATE `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2023-03-02T17:41:30+00:00** Returned by the Committee, with the recommendation that it Do Pass `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-03-06T21:18:42+00:00** Read the third time and passed. `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-03-06T21:18:48+00:00** Emergency Clause failed of adoption.
- **2023-03-06T21:24:25+00:00** Motion to Expunge the Vote by which the Emergency Clause failed of adoption. Motion Carried.
- **2023-03-06T21:24:53+00:00** The Emergency Clause of HB1419 was adopted.
- **2023-03-06T21:25:28+00:00** Returned to the House as passed.
- **2023-03-06T22:04:15+00:00** Returned From the Senate as passed.
- **2023-03-06T22:04:17+00:00** TO BE ENROLLED
- **2023-03-07T13:54:40+00:00** Correctly enrolled and ordered transmitted to the Governor's Office.
- **2023-03-07T19:49:40+00:00** Notification that HB1419 is now Act 236 `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/5f85074e-7cae-48cf-8ce9-2d0a9adbc7c7`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Arkansas legislature records).