It is very simple really. It is simply a matter of contacting either the Republican headquarters or the campaign headquarters of a particular candidate. You are provided with a brief training session and given an affadavit authorizing you as a poll watcher which you present at the polls when you arrive. You are also provided with a packet of information on what you can and can't do.
One of the things that I find interesting is that in these "questionable" areas, not only in Arkansas, but other states as well, it is Republican poll watchers who are having complaints leveled at them. Now, this is interesting for two reasons. 1) The democrats are entitled to poll watchers under the same guidelines as the Republicans but in most cases that I am aware of, failed to provide any. Why? Hmmmmm.... 2)The vast majority of people going to the polls would likely not even know who they were or what their job was and most of those who did would not know if they were democrat or Republican. It is not like we wear a sign. The only ones who would know would likely be the poll workers themselves to whom the credentials are presented, so how come it is outsiders leveling the charges?