Primary turnout expected to be 10,000 or less

Election officials anticipate El Dorado mayoral, Union County tax collector races to draw out local voters

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Election Commission Chairman Kermit Parks said he would be surprised if there was a turnout exceeding 10,000 voters for the primary election Tuesday.

Parks said the races of interest that will bring the most voters are the Republican primary for the El Dorado mayor, the Union County tax collector race and the primary gubernatorial races.

“In the last primary, we had a sheriff’s race that turned out a good amount of people,” Parks said. “We now have a mayoral race that has a great deal of interest. I would expect the numbers to be similar to the last (primary) election.”

For the 2016 primary election, there were about 4,000 early voters and 3,000 voters in the county on Election Day.

There is a total of 54 voting machines in the county, which will be spread out to 19 different voting sites. Concerning Election Day, Parks said unless there is a breakdown, “I haven’t seen anybody wait longer than 15 minutes to vote.”

Parks said the wait may be a little longer before and after work hours, but the machines are placed at the site based on the number of voters from previous years.

“During the day, it’s just pretty much a walk throughout,” he added.

Each voting machine is capable of storing 7,200 votes.

In the instance of a breakdown or an unforeseen issue, Parks said there will be paper ballots on hand at every site.

Parks said commissioners LaQuita Rainey and Rhonda Anderson have been working extensively to prepare for election night, adding that they are both “real hard and good workers.”

On Tuesday, polls close at 7:30 p.m. After the polls are closed, a poll worker will break the seal on the back of the machine to access the cartridge that holds the votes. The cartridge is sealed in a box and taken to the county courthouse to be counted by the election commissioners, along with any paper and provisional ballots.

Voters will have to comply with the state’s voter ID law, which the state Supreme Court said can be enforced for Tuesday’s primary after a Pulaski County judge ruled the 2017 law was an unconstitutional effort to reinstate a 2013 voter ID law that was struck down by the state’s highest court in 2014. The law requires voters to show photo identification before casting a ballot.

Opponents of the voter ID law, which is being challenged by a Little Rock voter who had sued over the previous ID requirement, have said they were monitoring its enforcement.

Polling sites in Union County include:

• Ward 1: Fair Grounds, 1432 E. 19th St.

• Ward 2: Hillsboro Church of Christ, 1322 W. Hillsboro

• Ward 3: St. James Baptist Church, 608 S. Martin Luther King Blvd.

• Ward 4: El Dorado Municipal Auditorium, 100 W. 8th

• Aureile/New London/ Strong: Strong Community Center, 9400 Strong Highway

• Junction City: Junction City, City Hall, 200 N. Main

• Coun. Box 1/7/ Hibanks: South Ark. community College, East Campus, 3696 East Main

• Coun. Box 2 & Caledonia: Mt. Union Church, 653 Mt. Union Road

• Country Box 3: Parkers Chapel School Gym, 401 Parkers Chapel Road, 4621 W. Hillsboro

• Country Box 4 & 6: Wyatt Baptist Church

• Calion: Calion Community Center, 159 N. Hoover

• Union: Union Baptist Family Life Center, 144 Crain City Road

• Norphlet: Norphlet City Hall, 101 E. Padgett

• Smackover: First United Methodist Church, 500 W. 5th St.

• Mt. Holly/Lisbon & Wolley’s Store: Mt. Holly Community Church, 2935 Stephens Highway

• Three Creeks & Wesson: Three Creeks Water Building, 110 Charlie Rogers Road

• Huttig: Huttig Community Center, 501 Frost St.

• Felsenthal: Felsenthal City Hall, 1000 S. 3rd

• Lawson: Lawson Fire Dept., 140 McCall

The Associated Press contributed information used in this report.