Norris and Hammer went through a Primary, a Runoff and a Recount in Spring 2026. Hammer is now the Republican nominee for Secretary of State and faces two challengers in November.
BENTON, AR — A Pulaski County circuit judge has dismissed an election challenge filed by now former Republican Secretary of State candidate Bryan Norris, robustly defending local election officials and bringing a months-long legal saga to a close.
In a ruling handed down Monday, June 8, 2026, Circuit Judge Tim Fox dismissed the lawsuit with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled. Fox characterized the challenge against the Saline County Board of Election Commissioners as “specious, ill-founded, and wholly without merit,” concluding that the plaintiff failed to prove any allegations of misconduct or procedural error.
Furthermore, Judge Fox noted in his ruling that Saline County election commissioners performed their statutory duties during the high-stakes recount process “in an exemplary fashion.”
THE ROOTS OF THE DISPUTE
The legal battle began following the March 31 Republican primary runoff for Arkansas Secretary of State, a race in which Norris – an anti-electronic voting machine advocate from Batesville, Arkansas – faced off against State Senator Kim Hammer of Saline County. After initial results showed Hammer victorious, Norris called for a recount across six Arkansas counties.
In Saline County alone, a total of 6,970 ballots were hand-counted and reviewed. When the process concluded, the recount matched the original certified electronic election results exactly. All five other counties involved in the recount similarly reported identical results between their original and hand-recounted totals.
Despite the matching tallies, Norris and his attorney, Clint Lancaster, filed a lawsuit on April 27, alleging that Saline County officials had improperly sealed ballot boxes and restricted observers during the recount process.
OFFICIALS VINDICATED
Monday’s ruling marks a vindication for Saline County’s election system, according to local officials.
“This ruling confirms what we have said from the very beginning,” Saline County Clerk Doug Curtis said in a statement. “Our election officials followed the law, our poll workers did their jobs, and the results were accurate. The recount confirmed it. The evidence presented at trial confirmed it. And now the Court has confirmed it.”
County officials expressed gratitude toward the election commissioners, the County Clerk staff, and the poll workers who managed the transparent process under immense scrutiny.
ANOTHER COUNTY
The Saline County dismissal clears a major hurdle for state election stability, though Norris’ broader campaign against electronic voting continues elsewhere.
Just over a month ago, on April 30, the Arkansas Supreme Court handed Norris a separate procedural victory regarding an ordinance in Independence County. In that case, the high court struck down a 2025 state law (Act 975) as unconstitutional, ruling that circuit courts have the original jurisdiction to hear challenges regarding citizen-led initiatives.
That case—which centers on Independence County’s decision to rescind a voter-approved mandate for hand-marked, hand-counted paper ballots—has been remanded back to the lower courts for trial.
However, as far as the March primary runoff is concerned, Saline County officials say the book is closed.
NOVEMBER ELECTION
“With this challenge now behind us, we can fully dedicate our attention to the upcoming November General Election,” Curtis said, adding that the county’s focus has firmly returned to preparing secure and transparent voting systems for the fall.
Senator Hammer faces two more opponents in the November election, Kelly Grappe (Democrat) and Michael Pakko (Libertarian).
PREVIOUSLY: MAY 1, 2026
Return to the main page for 2026 Election info at www.mysaline.com/2026-elections.
The Arkansas Supreme Court has reversed a lower court decision in a case involving Secretary of State candidate Bryan Norris, sending the matter back for further proceedings. Read more below, along with a new feature to help understand matters.
Scroll to the end 👇🏽to read the simpler, easily understandable summary of this article. We are trying to make the news easy to understand as people skim the internet. We still strive to write informational, unbiased news, and we still have the regular article with the details here as well. Read the simpler version below and tell us what you think! Text 501-303-4010.
In an opinion delivered April 30, 2026, the state’s highest court ruled that Act 975 of 2025 is unconstitutional, finding that it improperly attempted to shift certain constitutional challenges away from circuit courts and into the Arkansas Court of Appeals.
The case stems from a lawsuit filed by Bryan Norris (Batesville, AR), against Independence County officials after they rescinded a voter-approved ordinance requiring hand-marked, hand-counted paper ballots in elections.
Norris argued that the county did not have authority to overturn a citizen-led initiative. However, the circuit court dismissed the case, citing Act 975 and claiming it lacked jurisdiction.
The Supreme Court disagreed. Justices held that the Arkansas Constitution clearly assigns original jurisdiction to circuit courts, and that lawmakers cannot reassign that authority through legislation.
As a result, the high court reversed the dismissal and remanded the case, allowing it to proceed in circuit court.
The Independence County lawsuit is part of Norris’ broader efforts related to election processes in Arkansas.
Norris has been a vocal advocate for eliminating electronic voting machines and replacing them with paper ballots that are hand-marked and hand-counted—the same system at issue in the Independence County ordinance.
The ruling comes as Norris is also pursuing a separate election challenge in Saline County, where he was a candidate in the Republican primary runoff for Arkansas Secretary of State.
As previously reported by MySaline:
A Pulaski County judge dismissed Norris’ initial lawsuit on April 9 due to procedural errors, including a missing affidavit.
Norris re-filed the case on April 27 with the required documentation.
The complaint alleges issues such as improperly sealed ballot boxes and restricted observation during a recount.
Norris is asking the court to invalidate the Saline County runoff results and order a new election. That challenge in the Saline County runoff election remains pending.
Here’s the simpler version:
Bryan Norris ran in an election against Kim Hammer for Secretary of State in Arkansas.
Norris wants elections to use paper ballots that people mark by hand instead of machines.
In one county (Independence, where he lives), people voted to do that.
But later, local leaders said, “No, we’re not going to do it anymore.”
So Norris went to court and said, “That’s not fair—you shouldn’t undo what people voted for.”
A lower court said, “We can’t even look at your case because of a new law.”
But then the Arkansas Supreme Court stepped in and said,
“No, that law doesn’t work the way you think. The lower court can hear the case.”
So now:
The case is not over.
It goes back to the lower court.
A judge will now listen to Norris’ arguments.
At the same time, Norris lost the Secretary of State election to Kim Hammer (of Saline County).
Norris called for a recount of that election in six counties.
All of those counties came up with the same result that Norris didn’t win.
Norris is saying there were problems with the election in Saline County.
He says the election should be redone in Saline County.
A judge will tell him what happens next.
So basically:
Norris is trying to change how elections are done.
The courts are deciding whether his argument to move forward.
Related articles:
April 9, 2026 – Judge throws out Norris lawsuit, schools attorney on election law
April 28, 2026 – Norris refiles election lawsuit with affidavit after judge threw it out
Return to the main page for 2026 Election info at www.mysaline.com/2026-elections.
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