When a city reimburses the county for its share of election expenses, does the formula's denominator include voters from unincorporated areas of the county or just voters from cities and towns?

Plain-English summary

Arkansas counties pay the expenses of the listed general and runoff elections. A.C.A. § 7-5-104(a)(2) requires each city or incorporated town to reimburse the county board of election commissioners under a formula that uses the city's or town's voters as the numerator and all voters casting ballots in the election as the denominator:

City reimbursement = 50% × Total election cost × (city voters in the election ÷ total voters in the election)

Representative Gramlich asked whether the denominator included voters outside cities and incorporated towns. The AG adopted the countywide reading. The denominator includes voters in unincorporated areas as well as voters in cities and incorporated towns.

The AG picks the wide reading. The statutory text says "the total number of voters casting ballots in each election." It contains no geographical limitation. The opinion says that excluding unincorporated-area voters would make cities and incorporated towns pay a disproportionately high share of the total election expenses.

The AG applies basic statutory-construction canons: read the text "just as it reads," giving words "their ordinary and accepted meaning," and construe so that "no word is left void, superfluous, or insignificant." MacSteel Div. of Quanex v. Ark. Okla. Gas Corp., 363 Ark. 22, 30, 210 S.W.3d 878, 882 (2005). The phrase "total number of voters" is plain and unambiguous.

What this means for you

If you are a county election commissioner

When you calculate the reimbursement amount for a city or incorporated town, the denominator is the total number of voters casting ballots in the election, including voters in unincorporated areas. The numerator is the number of voters from that city or town. If an election had 50,000 total voters and a city had 8,000 voters, the formula produces 50% × Total Election Cost × (8,000 / 50,000) = 4% of the total cost.

If you are a city clerk or city attorney

The opinion rejects a denominator limited to municipal voters. A municipal-only denominator would be smaller than the countywide denominator and would produce a higher reimbursement amount for the same city or town under the formula.

If you are a mayor or municipal finance officer

The reimbursement amount is 50% of the total election cost multiplied by the city's or town's share of all voters casting ballots. It is not 50% of the total cost for every city. For example, 8,000 voters out of 50,000 produces a reimbursement of 4% of total cost.

If your county includes a large unincorporated area

Unincorporated-area voters count in the denominator. The opinion says excluding them would make cities and incorporated towns pay a disproportionately high share of the total election expenses.

If you are a county auditor or accountant

The spreadsheet denominator should include all voters casting ballots in the election, including unincorporated-area voters. The city or town numerator should include voters from that specific city or town.

Common questions

What does "total number of voters casting ballots in each election" mean?
The AG reads it as all voters who cast ballots in the county, including those residing in unincorporated areas. The opinion says the phrase is broad, unqualified, and imposes no geographical limitation.

What number goes in the numerator?
The numerator is the number of voters from the particular city or incorporated town casting ballots in the election.

How does the 50% factor work in an example?
If a city has 8,000 voters in an election with 50,000 total voters, its fraction is 8,000/50,000, or 16%. Multiplying that fraction by 50% of total cost produces 4% of total cost.

Does each city reimburse half of the election cost?
No. The statute says the reimbursement is 50% of the total cost multiplied by the city's or town's voter fraction. The county pays the listed election expenses under subsection (a)(1), subject to the reimbursement described in subsection (a)(2).

What elections does the quoted provision cover?
The quoted statute addresses general and runoff elections for presidential, congressional, state, district, county, township, or municipal offices.

Background and statutory framework

A.C.A. § 7-5-104(a)(1). "All expenses of general elections and runoff elections for presidential, congressional, state, district, county, township, or municipal offices in this state shall be paid by the counties in which they are held."

A.C.A. § 7-5-104(a)(2). "However, any city or incorporated town shall reimburse the county board of election commissioners for the expenses of the elections in an amount equal to a figure derived by multiplying fifty percent (50%) of the total cost of each election by a fraction, the numerator of which shall be the number of voters from the city or incorporated town casting ballots in each election prepared by the county board of election commissioners, and the denominator of which shall be the total number of voters casting ballots in each election."

Statutory construction. MacSteel Div. of Quanex v. Ark. Okla. Gas Corp., 363 Ark. 22, 30, 210 S.W.3d 878, 882 (2005): construe statutes "just as it reads," give words "their ordinary and accepted meaning in common language," and read so that "no word is left void, superfluous, or insignificant; and meaning and effect are given to every word."

Plain meaning controls. When a statute is plain and unambiguous, courts do not resort to other rules of statutory interpretation. The AG concludes "total number of voters casting ballots in each election" is plain and unambiguous.

Logical check. Excluding unincorporated voters from the denominator would make cities and incorporated towns pay a disproportionately high share of the total election expenses.

Citations

Statute:

• A.C.A. § 7-5-104 (allocation of general election expenses; cost-sharing formula)

Case:

• MacSteel Div. of Quanex v. Ark. Okla. Gas Corp., 363 Ark. 22, 210 S.W.3d 878 (2005)

Source

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

Original opinion text

BOB R. BROOKS JR. JUSTICE BUILDING
101 WEST CAPITOL AVENUE
LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS 72201
Opinion No. 2025-087
October 16, 2025
The Honorable Zachary Gramlich
State Representative
2020 South T Street
Fort Smith, Arkansas 72901

Dear Representative Gramlich:

I am writing in response to your request for an opinion regarding the calculation of general-election expenses to be reimbursed by a city or incorporated town to a local county board of election commissioners in accordance with A.C.A. § 7-5-104(a), which provides:

(1) All expenses of general elections and runoff elections for presidential, congressional, state, district, county, township, or municipal offices in this state shall be paid by the counties in which they are held.

(2) However, any city or incorporated town shall reimburse the county board of election commissioners for the expenses of the elections in an amount equal to a figure derived by multiplying fifty percent (50%) of the total cost of each election by a fraction, the numerator of which shall be the number of voters from the city or incorporated town casting ballots in each election prepared by the county board of election commissioners, and the denominator of which shall be the total number of voters casting ballots in each election.

1

You state that there are some concerns among city and county election officials regarding the allocation of these general-election expenses.

Against this background, you ask the following questions:

1. Does the denominator of the referenced fraction in subdivision (a)(2) of the above statute include the total number of voters outside of the cities or incorporated towns (i.e., the unincorporated area of the county) that cast a ballot in the election?

2. A.C.A. § 7-5-104(a)(1)–(2).

Brief response: Yes, the denominator in A.C.A. § 7-5-104(a)(2) includes the total number of voters who cast ballots in the election countywide, including those in unincorporated areas of the county.

2. Is the denominator of the referenced fraction in subdivision (a)(2) of the above statute limited to the total number of voters from any city or incorporated town who cast a ballot in the election?

Brief response: No, the denominator in A.C.A. § 7-5-104(a)(2) is not limited to the total number of voters from any city or incorporated town that cast a ballot in an election.

DISCUSSION

Question 1: Does the denominator of the referenced fraction in subdivision (a)(2) of the above statute include the total number of voters outside of the cities or incorporated towns (i.e., the unincorporated area of the county) that cast a ballot in the election?

Yes, the denominator of the referenced fraction in A.C.A. § 7-5-104(a)(2) includes all voters who cast ballots in the county, including those residing in unincorporated areas of the county. This conclusion is supported by principles of statutory interpretation. The first rule in considering the meaning and effect of a statute is to construe the text just as it reads, giving the words their ordinary and accepted meaning in common language. 2 The courts will construe a statute so that no word is left void, superfluous, or insignificant; and meaning and effect are given to every word in the statute if possible. 3 When the language of a statute is plain and unambiguous, there is no need to resort to the rules of statutory interpretation. 4

2. See, e.g., MacSteel Div. of Quanex v. Ark. Okla. Gas Corp., 363 Ark. 22, 30, 210 S.W.3d 878, 882 (2005).

3. Id. at 30, 210 S.W.3d at 882–83.

4. Id.

The phrase "the denominator of which shall be the total number of voters casting ballots in each election" is plain and unambiguous. It is broad and unqualified, imposing no geographical limitations. Because the statute applies to county-run elections, the denominator necessarily includes all those who cast a vote in the county in a given election. This interpretation also aligns with the statute's logic. If the denominator excluded voters who cast a ballot in a given election when such voters live in the unincorporated areas of the county, then cities and incorporated towns would pay a disproportionately high share of the total election expenses. Thus, the denominator includes all the voters casting ballots in the county in any given election.

Question 2: Is the denominator of the referenced fraction in subdivision (a)(2) of the above statute limited to the total number of voters from any city or incorporated town that cast a ballot in the election?

No. As explained above, limiting the denominator to only voters from cities or incorporated towns would contradict the plain language of the statute. The statute creates a cost-sharing formula where a city or incorporated town reimburses the county for a portion of the election costs based on the relative participation of its voters in the election. That portion is calculated by comparing the number of a city or town's voters (the numerator) to the total number of voters (the denominator) in the election. Restricting the denominator to only municipal voters would artificially inflate a city or town's share of the election costs and undermine the proportionality the statute intends to achieve.

Assistant Attorney General Justin Hughes prepared this opinion, which I hereby approve.

Sincerely,
TIM GRIFFIN
Attorney General