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Arkansas House OKs Nonpartisan Prosecutor Elections

The Arkansas House has approved a bill intended to remove party politics from the election of state  prosecutors.  

The lawmakers on Wednesday voted 63-24 to pass a bill making the state's 28 elected prosecuting attorneys nonpartisan positions. Candidates would no longer be listed on the ballot as Democrats or Republicans.

The bill calls for the state to collect prosecutor candidates' filing fees instead of political parties.

Supporters say the measure would remove partisan politics from the courtroom. Opponents say they wanted to keep party designations because the labels offered insight into how a prosecutor would make decisions.   

A previous version of the bill that would have also changed the date of prosecutor elections failed in the House last month.

The approved legislation now heads to a Senate committee.