Early voting starting Monday
EL DORADO — Voters in Union County will cast ballots for a number of national, state and local candidates and will vote on several state issues including terms, election and eligibility of elected officials; medical-injury lawsuit laws; a medical marijuana amendment and a medical cannabis act.
Early voting for the Nov. 8 General Election – 15 days prior to the election – starts Monday throughout the state and registered voters can cast ballots in Union County at the Union County Clerk of Court’s office on the first floor of the courthouse in downtown El Dorado. Early voting hours are from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Oct. 29 and Nov. 5. Early voting ends at 5 p.m. on Nov. 7 – the day prior to the election.
On Election Day, polls throughout the county will be open from 7:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m.
There will be seven issues – including proposed changes to the state constitution and state laws – on the Nov. 8 ballot for Arkansas voters to decide, but while Issue Number Five – authorizing three casinos in three counties in the state – will appear on the ballot, those votes will not be counted.
The Arkansas Supreme Court on Oct. 13 rejected a proposed constitutional amendment (Issue Number Five on the Nov. 8 ballot) to authorize three casinos in southwest and Northwest Arkansas. In a 6-1 ruling, the state’s high court sided with the Committee to Preserve Arkansas Values/ Stop Casinos Now and two of its members in their claim that the ballot title of the proposed amendment was insufficient because it failed to inform voters that federal law prohibits Arkansas and other states from authorizing sports gambling, according to a news story in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on Oct. 14.
The proposal was to be considered in the Nov. 8 general election, and voters will see it listed on ballots.
“Per the Supreme Court’s decision, while it will still remain on the actual ballot, the votes for this measure will not be counted,” said Chris Powell, a spokesman for Secretary of State Mark Martin. The amendment would have authorized casinos in Boone, Miller and Washington counties.
Issue Number One on the ballot is titled Terms, election and eligibility of elected officials. If the proposed changes to the state constitution are approved by voters, it would allow fouryear terms for elected county officials; prevent certain elected county officials from also being appointed or elected to a civil office; allow unopposed candidates to be elected without their name appearing on the ballot and define what “infamous crime” means in regards to who is not allowed to hold an elected position.
Issue Number Two is a constitutional amendment to allow the governor to retain his or her powers and duties when absent from the state.
Issue Number Three – Job creation, job expansion and economic development – is an amendment to the state constitution and a vote for means changing the constitution to include removing the 5 percent of state general revenue cap on bond issues for large economic development projects. A vote for also would allow counties and municipalities to obtain or provide money for other entities to support economic development projects or services; clarify the authority of counties and municipalities to issue bonds for economic development projects; allow the use of other taxes to pay off bond debt, remove the requirement that economic development bonds may be sold only at public sale and allow local governments to form compacts for economic development projects.
Issue Number Four, a proposal by a petition of the people, is Medical-injury lawsuit laws and would limit attorney contingency fees and non-economic damages in medical lawsuits, according to a 2016 voter guide published by the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Research and Extension. A vote for means the voter is in favor of changing the Arkansas Constitution regarding all the components proposed, including prohibiting attorneys from charging clients more than one-third of the amount of money received in medical-injury lawsuits and allowing the state Legislature to establish a maximum dollar amount that people can receive in medical-injury lawsuits for non-economic damages, as long as the maximum is not less than $250,000.
A vote for Issue Number Six – Medical marijuana amendment (referred to the people by the Arkansas General Assembly) – means the voter is in favor of changing the Arkansas Constitution to make the medical use of marijuana legal under Arkansas law and establishing a system for the cultivation, acquisition and distribution of marijuana for medical purposes.
Issue Number Seven is the Medical cannabis act and a vote for means the voter is in favor of making the medical use of marijuana legal under Arkansas law and establishing a system for the cultivation, acquisition and distribution of marijuana for medical purposes.