Ruling: Poll site to stay open
A lawsuit filed in Jefferson County Circuit Court against the County Board of Election Commissioners was decided partially in favor of the plaintiffs after Judge David Laser ordered the commission to keep New Town Missionary Baptist Church open as a polling site for voters in precincts 409, 410, and 419 for the Nov. 3 General Election, which is taking place today.
Laser issued the ruling after a hearing on the matter that was held Oct. 27.
Plaintiffs in the case are Pine Bluff resident Walter Johnson and Fourth Ward Aldermen Steven Mays and Bruce Lockett. Defendants in the lawsuit are the Jefferson County Election Commission and commissioners Michael Adam, Stuart “Stu” Soffer and Theodis “Ted” Davis.
The lawsuit, which was filed Sept. 11, argued that the closure of the polling sites was improper because the decision was made without unanimous consent of the full commission. Although Davis had submitted his resignation from the commission a few days prior to the meeting, Democratic Central Committee Chairwoman Patricia Royal Johnson said at the time that Davis’ resigna
tion was not official because it had not been accepted by the Central Committee.
The complaint accused Adam and Soffer of making the decision to close polling locations on behalf of the Election Commission without notifying the public or Davis, and of holding meetings without notifying the public. Past records indicate that at the meeting in question when the decision was made affecting the three polling locations, public notification of the meeting was made, although Davis was not notified of the meeting.
Adam said an email was sent to Johnson, and he later provided a copy of the email sent from the his personal email account. Johnson said she had not seen the notification and a check of past emails sent on behalf of the commission showed that Johnson was not routinely notified of commission business.
The complaint also accused Adam and Soffer of denying Jefferson County citizens their right under the First Amendment to address the commission, accusing the two of exercising prior restraint by allowing public comment only on new business matters listed on the agenda.
In January, during a brief period of time following the attempt by Davis to resign from the commission, Adam and Soffer voted to consolidate three polling locations into other polling sites if those locations had less than 100 voters cast ballots during the March primary election.
The three polling locations, all of which are in African-American neighborhoods, were the Pine Bluff School Administration Building, Old Morning Star Baptist Church, and New Town Missionary Baptist Church.
The decision on two of those locations, Old Morning Star Baptist Church in Packingtown and the Pine Bluff Administration Building, was reversed at a meeting Sept. 18 as a compromise with Davis after he refused to allow the relocation of the Swan Lake Community Center polling site to the Swan Lake Fire Department, which Adam and Soffer said better met requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Davis withheld his vote on the matter until the decision to close the three polling sites was reconsidered.
Ten days later, the commission voted to reinstate New Town Missionary Baptist Church as a polling site.
Because all of the polling sites had been reinstated at the time of Laser’s ruling, it will have no effect on the issue, but his decision said all other issues raised in the complaint would be reserved for future disposition.