If an Arkansas school-board ballot listed the wrong term length for an unopposed candidate, did he serve the listed term or the statutory term?

Plain-English summary

Senator Eddie Cheatham asked about an unusual situation at the Crossett School District. Robert Cornelius ran unopposed for re-election to the school board in 2013 and won. But the ballot listed his term as four years, even though the established term for Crossett School Board directors was five years. Several years later, the question came up: which term did Mr. Cornelius actually serve?

Attorney General Leslie Rutledge concluded he was elected to the full five-year term. Two structural points drove the analysis. First, no Arkansas statute prescribes a school-board ballot form that includes the term length. Voters in a school-board election are voting for the candidate, based on the candidate's status as a candidate for the position; they are not separately voting on how long that director will serve. Second, Arkansas courts are reluctant to void elections over technical errors that did not mislead voters or involve fraud. Allen v. Rankin established that even where a statute does prescribe a ballot form, courts hesitate to invalidate elections for "slight deviation[s] from the statutory requirements" especially where the voter had no control over the error and no fraud occurred.

Because no voter could have been misled into thinking they were voting on the term length (no statute even authorizes that vote) and because no election challenge was filed, the term established by law (five years) controlled. Mr. Cornelius's term was therefore five years, the second and fourth questions about appointment of a one-year extension were moot, and the Crossett School Board was legally constituted with its five elected members.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2017. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Q: How long is an Arkansas school-board director's term?
A: Section 6-13-608(a) sets the range at three to five years. Each district selects within that range. Crossett's longstanding practice was five years.

Q: Why didn't the ballot's "4 years" override the statute?
A: Because the term length is set by district practice and statute, not by the ballot. The ballot's role is to record the voter's choice for the office. The term that comes with the office is established independently. Arkansas courts treat ballot-form errors as fatal only when they actually mislead voters or violate a statutory mandate that says the error voids the election. Neither was true here.

Q: What does it matter that no one challenged the election?
A: Election challenges have time limits and proper forums. If no qualified elector challenged the election within the relevant period, the election stands. The AG could not retroactively invalidate it. The fact that years had passed without challenge weighed in favor of treating the election as valid for the established term.

Q: What if voters had specifically been misled about term length?
A: That would be a different case. The AG noted there were no facts to indicate voters were "led to believe or in any way held the mistaken belief that they were voting on the term length for Mr. Cornelius." If a campaign or election notice had specifically advertised a four-year term, the analysis might shift. But the bare ballot error did not constitute misleading.

Q: Did the school board need to take any corrective action?
A: No. Because the AG concluded Mr. Cornelius was always elected to a five-year term, no appointment to extend his service was needed. Questions 2 and 4 (about whether the board could appoint him to a one-year term after a four-year term) were moot. The board was already legally constituted with the five elected members it had.

Background and statutory framework

Arkansas school-board governance rests on Ark. Code Ann. § 6-13-608, which establishes term-length parameters (three to five years) and lets each district fix the specific length. Most districts set staggered terms so that a portion of the board turns over each year, avoiding wholesale board changes. Crossett's five-year terms with annual elections fit that pattern.

Ballot-form law in Arkansas is governed by both statutory ballot-form requirements and the common-law principle that ballot errors do not invalidate elections unless they were misleading or fraudulent. Ashby v. Patrick (1930) held that when no statute prescribes a particular ballot form, the ballot is sufficient if it gives voters an opportunity to express their will without misleading them. Allen v. Rankin (1980) added that even when statutes do prescribe a form, courts are reluctant to void elections for slight deviations.

A 2004 AG opinion (Op. Att'y Gen. 2004-283) reached the same conclusion the AG reached here: a ballot error about term length does not invalidate the election when the term is established by other law and voters were not voting on the term itself.

Citations and references

Statutes:

• Ark. Code Ann. § 6-13-608(a) (school board term length, three-to-five years)

Cases:

• Ashby v. Patrick, 181 Ark. 859, 28 S.W.2d 55 (1930) (Ark. Supreme Court, ballot form sufficiency)
• Allen v. Rankin, 269 Ark. 517, 602 S.W.2d 673 (1980) (Ark. Supreme Court, reluctance to void elections for slight deviations)

Prior AG opinion:

• Op. Att'y Gen. 2004-283 (mistaken reference to term of office on school board ballot did not invalidate election)

Source

• Landing page: https://arkansasag.gov/divisions/opinions-foia/attorney-general-opinions-search/

Original opinion text

Opinion No. 2017-013
March 29, 2017
STATE OF ARKANSAS
ATTORNEY GENERAL
LESLIE RUTLEDGE
The Honorable Eddie Cheatham
State Senator
2814 Ashley 239
Crossett, AR 71635-8824
Dear Senator Cheatham:
This is in response to your request for my opinion concerning the election of a
member of the Crossett School District Board of Directors in 2013. You have
provided the following background information, which I have paraphrased:
The Crossett School District has a board of directors consisting of
five members who are elected to staggered five-year terms. During
the 2013 school board election, Mr. Robert Cornelius ran for re-
election. He was unopposed and won. However, the ballot listed his
term as four years instead of five years.
In light of the foregoing, you pose the following questions:
1) Was Mr. Cornelius legally elected to a four (4) year term or a
five (5) year term?
2) If Mr. Cornelius was elected to a four (4) year term, does the
board of directors have authority to appoint Mr. Cornelius to a
one (1) year term after the termination of his four (4) year term?
3) Is the Crossett School Board legally constituted at this time with
five (5) elected members?
323 CENTER STREET, SUITE 200 · LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS 72201
TELEPHONE (501) 682-2007 · FAX (501) 682-8084
ARKANSASAG.GOV The Honorable Eddie Cheatham
State Senator
Opinion No. 2017-013
Page 2
4) Will the Crossett School Board be legally constituted with five
(5) members if Mr. Cornelius is appointed to serve a one (1) year
term at the expiration of the four ( 4) year term?
RESPONSE
I take it from the background information you have provided that a five-year term
of office for members of the Crossett School Board was established prior to the
2013 annual school election. 1 I have no facts to indicate that the voters were led to
believe or in any way held the mistaken belief that they were voting on the term
length for Mr. Cornelius, rather than voting for Mr. Cornelius solely based on his
status as a candidate for the school board position. Nor am I aware of any election
challenge to the 2013 school board election. In my opinion, it necessarily follows
under these circumstances that Mr. Cornelius was elected to serve a five-year term
on the Crossett School Board, notwithstanding what appears to have been a
mistaken reference to the term of office on the annual school board election ballot.
It is therefore my opinion, in response to your first question, that Mr. Cornelius
was legally elected to serve a five-year term. Your second and fourth questions
are rendered moot by this response. The answer to your third question is "yes," in
my opm1on.
DISCUSSION
Question 1: Was Mr. Cornelius legally elected to a/our (4) year term or a five
(5) year term?
In my opinion, Mr. Cornelius was legally elected to serve a five-year term on the
Crossett School Board. I believe this necessarily follows from the fact, as I
understand it, that the established term of office for the position prior to the
election was five years pursuant to longstanding practice.
There is no requirement that an annual school board election ballot reflect the term
of office. Indeed, there is no statutory mandate regarding the ballot form for a
1 It is my understanding that the term of office for Crossett School Board directors has been set at
five years pursuant to longstanding practice. A five-year term is consistent with the general
statute governing school board directors' term lengths. See Ark. Code Ann. § 6-13-608(a)-(b)
(Supp. 2015). This statute provides that elected school board directors shall serve a term of office
between three and five years in length. Id. at§ 6-13-608(a). The Honorable Eddie Cheatham
State Senator
Opinion No. 2017-013
Page 3
school board director ballot. Nor does any statute indicate that electors in a school
board election are voting not only for a school board director, but also for that
director's term of office. Accordingly, I believe it is highly unlikely that a ballot
would be deemed insufficient based solely on its apparent mistaken reference to
the term of office for a school director position. 2
I have been provided no facts suggesting that there was any question prior to the
election regarding the term length associated with the director position for which
Mr. Cornelius was running. Nor do I have any facts to indicate that the voters
were led to believe or in any way held the mistaken belief that they were voting on
the term length for Mr. Cornelius, rather than voting for Mr. Cornelius solely
based on his status as a candidate for the school board position. I am also unaware
of any election challenge to the 2013 school board election. 3
In my opinion, the mistaken reference on the ballot regarding the term of office
had no bearing on Mr. Cornelius's term of office as an elected school board
director. It is my opinion that he was legally elected to a five-year term under
these circumstances.
Question 2: If Mr. Cornelius was elected to a four (4) year term, does the board
of directors have authority to appoint Mr. Cornelius to a one (1) year term after
the termination of his four (4) year term?
Question 3: Is the Crossett School Board legally constituted at this time with
five (5) elected members?
2 Cf Ashby v. Patrick, 181 Ark. 859, 28 S.W.2d 55 (1930) (noting that when no ballot form is
prescribed by statute, the ballot voted on is "sufficient" so long as it "was such as not to mislead
the electors, but to give them an opportunity to express their will .... "). Accord Op. Att'y Gen.
2004-283 (concluding that a mistaken reference to the term of office on the school board election
ballot did not have the effect of invalidating the election, considering the term of office was
established by law, and therefore electors were not voting on the director's term length).
3 Even if a statute prescribed the ballot form and the ballot in the election did not conform, our
courts "are quite reluctant to void an entire election due to a slight deviation from the statutory
requirements ... especially in matters over which the voter has no control, and in which no fraud
is perpetrated, unless the statute expressly makes it so." Allen v. Rankin, 269 Ark. 517, 521, 602
S.W.2d 673, 675 (1980) (internal citation omitted). The Honorable Eddie Cheatham
State Senator
Opinion No. 2017-013
Page4
Question 4: Will the Crossett School Board be legally constituted with five (5)
members if Mr. Cornelius is appointed to serve a one (I) year term at the
expiration of the four (4) year term?
Because it is my opinion in response to your first question that Mr. Cornelius was
legally elected to the Crossett School Board for a five-year term, your second and
fourth questions are rendered moot. The answer to your third question is "yes," in
my opinion. The Crossett School Board is legally constituted, notwithstanding the
2013 election ballot's mistaken reference to the term of office for the director
position filled at that election.
Sincerely,
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LESLIE RUTLED~ <:::s
Attorney General