Arkansans who plan to vote absentee in the runoff election on Tuesday have one day left to turn in their ballot at the county clerk's office -- Monday. County clerks' offices across the state are closed Friday.
They can also put their ballot in the mail, but at this late date it may not get to the office before the end of the day Tuesday as required by law, said Jason Kennedy, assistant chief deputy in the Pulaski County clerk's office.
Ballots mailed by military and overseas voters can arrive up to 10 days after Tuesday and still be counted, he said.
Attempting to avoid crowds during the pandemic, many people voted absentee this year. Kennedy said the Pulaski County clerk's office sent out more than 28,000 absentee ballots for the Nov. 3 general election. That's 20,000 more than ever before.
For the runoff election that will be held Tuesday, Pulaski County sent out more than 6,000 absentee ballots.
Voters who requested absentee ballots for the general election also received one if there was a runoff election in the races on their ballot, said Kennedy.
[RELATED: Full coverage of elections in Arkansas » arkansasonline.com/elections/]
In Pulaski County, there are runoff elections for North Little Rock mayor and North Little Rock City Council Ward 3. There are also two runoff elections for Little Rock School Board positions -- zones 3 and 6.
Kennedy said Pulaski County's absentee ballots were mailed out last week.
He said they normally get about two-thirds of absentee ballots back, but for the Nov. 3 general election, the rate was over 90%.
Kennedy said there will be a tent outside the Pulaski County clerk's office on Monday where workers will check identification and accept the ballots. If someone is dropping a ballot off for a voter, they need to have the "designated bearer" section filled out and signed by the voter.
A designated bearer may deliver ballots for no more than two people, according to the application for absentee ballot from the Arkansas secretary of state's office.
A designated bearer can turn a ballot in on Tuesday, said Kevin Niehaus, a spokesman for the secretary of state's office. He said absentee ballots can be requested as late as Monday.
Betsy Harrell, the Benton County clerk, said her office sent out about 16,600 absentee ballots for the general election. That compares with 2,850 in 2016.
Harrell said her office sent about 2,500 absentee ballots for the runoff election.
In Benton County, there are City Council runoff elections in Bentonville, Centerton and Lowell, in addition to one in Springdale, which is primarily in Washington County.
Besides Springdale, in Washington County, there is also a City Council runoff election in Fayetteville.
Becky Lewallen, the Washington County clerk, said her office sent out 13,193 absentee ballots for the general election and got 91% of them back.
She said normally only 2,000 to 3,000 absentee ballots are requested for a general election.
Lewallen said they sent out 3,515 absentee ballots for the runoff election. As of Wednesday afternoon, they had gotten 325 back.
She said hundreds of people voted a provisional ballot on Nov. 3 after requesting an absentee ballot.
Kennedy said a voter who planned to vote absentee could vote a provisional ballot on Tuesday instead of voting absentee.
Kennedy said many people were confused by the state's application for absentee ballot. The first box to check was to request a ballot for the "Nonpartisan General Election only," but that ballot was for judicial races last March, he said.
Voters meant to check the third box, which was next to the words: "General Election/Nonpartisan Runoff & General Election Runoff."
So, many people checked the wrong box for the Nov. 3 election. Kennedy, Harrell and Lewallen said they all knew which ballot the voters wanted, so they sent them absentee ballots for the Nov. 3 election instead.
"We didn't have time to call those people and ask them which election did you want," said Harrell.
"Can you determine what the voter's intent was? Yes," said Harrell. "Technically, the runoff is considered part of the general election. It's part of the general election ballot."