BY: SONNY ALBARADO – JULY 31, 2025 6:16 PM
A former Pulaski County Clerk employee has been charged with a felony in connection with voter registration tampering last year.
Deborah Smith, 57, of North Little Rock surrendered to authorities Thursday after investigators with Attorney General Tim Griffin’s Election Integrity Unit obtained a warrant for her arrest, Griffin said in a press release.
The State Board of Election Commissioners this spring referred a complaint it received from Pulaski County election commissioners about a possible election integrity violation. The state board asked the attorney general’s office and the county prosecuting attorney to investigate the switching of 132 voter registrations from North Little Rock to Maumelle ahead of the 2024 general election.
“We determined during our investigation that Smith deliberately switched the voter registrations while employed at the clerk’s office. She is charged with one count of violation of voter eligibility, a Class D felony,” Griffin’s press release said.
Smith resigned from her position in Clerk Terri Hollingsworth’s voter registration department on Oct. 24, according to blogger Snarky Media. That was two days after Hollingsworth initiated an investigation into the alleged switch. The precinct switch allegedly occurred on the first day of early voting, Oct. 21.
In an Oct. 28 letter to county election commissioners, Hollingsworth said her office took steps to correct the changed precincts, but four voters had already voted before the fixes were made.
Smith was processed at the Pulaski County Detention Center on Thursday and released on her own recognizance, Griffin said.
Griffin said his office’s investigation is continuing.
“Preserving the integrity of our elections is foundational to maintaining our democracy,” he said in a press release. “Instances like this in Arkansas are rare, but to keep them from becoming more frequent, the response of justice must be swift and decisive.”
Secretary of State Cole Jester, who is chairman of the state election commissioners board, thank Griffin for his office’s work on the case.
“Intentional violations of election law should always be met with criminal charges,” Jester said in a statement.
Online news outlet South Arkansas Reckoning first reported in November about Hollingsworth’s letter to county election commissioners about the changed precincts and what she’d done about it.
In May, the State Board of Election Commissioners reprimanded Hollingsworth for the precinct changes and issued a warning letter to her for having failed to prevent unauthorized changes to voter records.
