Results certified for primary vote earlier in March
28% of electorate cast ballots
Twenty-eight percent of Arkansas’ 1.74 million registered voters cast ballots in the March 3 primary election based on the final election results certified by the election commissions in the state’s 75 counties.
The total votes cast in the primary election was 487,409 based on the certified results, said Kevin Niehaus, a spokesman for the Republican secretary of state. All of the counties certified their election results by late last week.
The share of registered voters casting ballots in the primary was down from the primary in the 2016 presidential election, but up over the turnout in the primary in the 2012 presidential election year.
The final turnout for Arkansas’ primaries in the 2016 presidential election year was 38.4% — 644,523 of 1.6 million registered voters. In 2012, it was 21.8% — 335,885 of 1.5 million registered voters, according to the secretary of state’s website.
In 2008, the presidential primaries in Arkansas were held in February, separate from the rest of the party primaries that were held in May.
Turnout in the 2008 presidential primaries was 34.6% — 544,170 of 1.5 million registered voters — but the turnout in the rest of the primaries in May was 18%, according to the secretary of state’s website.
The votes in the March 3 Republican presidential primary totaled 246,044 compared with the 229,122 votes in the Democratic presidential primary, according to information provided by Niehaus.
In Arkansas’ primary election, former Vice President Joe Biden received the most votes among Democratic presidential candidates with 93,012 or 40.6 %.
According to Niehaus, the other Democratic candidates received the following number of votes:
■ U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders 51,413, or 22.4%
■ Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg 38,312, or 16.7%
■ U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren 22,971, or 10%
■ Former South Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg 7,649, or 3.3%
■ U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar 7,009, or 3.1%
■ Businessman Tom Steyer 2,053, 0.9%
■ U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard 1,593, or 0.7%
■ Businessman Andrew Yang 715, or 0.3%
■ U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris 715, or 0.3%
■ U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet 574, or 0.2%
■ U.S. Sen. Cory Booker 572, or 0.2%
■ Author Marianne Williamson 501, or 0.2%
■ Montana Gov. Steve Bullock 485, or 0.2%
■ Former U.S. Rep. John K. Delaney 443, or 0.2%
■ Former U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak 408, 0.2%
■ Attorney Mosie Boyd of Fort Smith 393, or 0.2%
■ Former HUD Secretary Julian Castro 304, or 0.1%
President Donald Trump won the most votes in the Republican primary with 238,980, or 97.1 %, according to Niehaus.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld received 5,216 votes, or 2.1%, and businessman Roque “Rocky” De La Fuente received 1,848 votes, or 0.75%.
In the state Supreme Court race for Position 4, Workers Compensation Commission Judge Barbara Womack Webb of Benton defeated Pulaski County Circuit Judge Morgan “Chip” Welch of Little Rock by a 245,736 to 212,443 margin based on the certified results, according to figures provided by Niehaus. Webb received 53.6% of the votes.
Prosecuting Attorney Stephanie Potter Barrett won the state Court of Appeals race for District 4, Position 2 in western Arkansas over District Judge Emily White by a margin of 42,505 to 32,760 based on the certified results, according to Niehaus. Barrett received 56.5% of the votes.
Court of Appeals Judge Mark Klappenbach defeated former military lawyer James McMenis by 19,892 to 9,594 to represent District 5 in south-central Arkansas based on the certified results. Klappenbach won 67.4% of the votes.