Attorney General Griffin Praises Appeals Court Decision in Voting Rights Act Case

Griffin: ‘I am proud to defend Arkansas’s election integrity laws’

LITTLE ROCK – Attorney General Tim Griffin issued the following statement after the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reversed a lower court’s decision to deny the State’s motion for summary judgment and to issue a permanent injunction against the State:

“The Eighth Circuit properly determined that the district court erred by denying the State’s motion for summary judgment and by ruling for the plaintiffs. As the Eighth Circuit explained, plaintiffs in this case do not have a private right of action under the Voting Rights Act or under the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

“At issue here is Act 658 of 2009, which was passed by the legislature and signed into law by then-Governor Mike Beebe. The law protects the right to vote free from undue influence or manipulation by limiting the number of voters that one person can assist in marking ballots to six. This commonsense approach to protecting our election process went unchallenged until 2020, when Arkansas United filed a lawsuit challenging the law shortly before midnight on the day before the general election.

“The Eighth Circuit’s decision means that officials can continue to enforce Arkansas’s laws and voters can have confidence in our elections. I am proud to defend Arkansas’s election-integrity laws.”

To read a copy of the court’s order, click here.

To download a PDF of this release, click here.

About Attorney General Tim Griffin

Tim Griffin was sworn in as the 57th Attorney General of Arkansas on January 10, 2023, having previously served as the state’s 20th Lieutenant Governor from 2015-2023. From 2011-2015, Griffin served as the 24th representative of Arkansas’s Second Congressional District, where he served on the House Committee on Ways and Means, House Armed Services Committee, House Committee on Foreign Affairs, House Committee on Ethics and House Committee on the Judiciary while also serving as a Deputy Whip for the Majority.

Griffin is currently an officer in the Arkansas Army National Guard and holds the rank of colonel. Griffin served as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps for more than 28 years. In 2005, Griffin was mobilized to active duty as an Army prosecutor at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and served with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) in Mosul, Iraq.

His previous assignments include serving as the Commander of the 2d Legal Operations Detachment in New Orleans, Louisiana; the Commander of the 134th Legal Operations Detachment at Fort Bragg, North Carolina; and as a Senior Legislative Advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness at the Pentagon. Griffin earned a master’s degree in strategic studies as a Distinguished Honor Graduate from the U.S. Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania.

Griffin also served as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, and Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Political Affairs for President George W. Bush; Special Assistant to Assistant Attorney General Michael Chertoff, Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice; Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Arkansas; Senior Investigative Counsel, Government Reform and Oversight Committee, U.S. House of Representatives; and Associate Independent Counsel, Office of Independent Counsel David M. Barrett, In re: HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros.

Griffin is a graduate of Magnolia High School, Hendrix College in Conway, and Tulane Law School in New Orleans. He attended graduate school at Oxford University. He is admitted to practice law in Arkansas (active) and Louisiana (inactive). Griffin lives in Little Rock with his wife, Elizabeth, a Camden native, and their three children.

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