HB1648

House Bill 1648 proposes an amendment to Arkansas election law to mandate a runoff election for candidates seeking seats in the Arkansas Senate or House of Representatives. Under the proposed legislation, if no candidate for a legislative office receives a majority of the votes cast in a general election, a special runoff election must be held four weeks later between the two candidates who received the highest number of votes. The bill specifies procedures for these runoffs, including provisions for determining the winner by lot if a tie occurs in the runoff election. This requirement for a majority threshold replaces existing procedures that may not have necessitated runoffs for legislative seats. The bill explicitly excludes certain constitutional and executive offices from this new runoff requirement.