Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Early voting turnout up in state
In Northwest Arkansas, fewer cast ballots than in recent primaries
The final state numbers for early voter turnout surpassed those of the last similar primary although officials in Northwest Arkansas said voting was comparatively slow.
Early voting began May 7 and ended at 5 p.m. Monday. Today, the polls will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Among the ballot choices are races for governor, Congress and the Arkansas Supreme Court. There are also races for the Legislature, other judicial positions and some local government offices. Some
counties also have school elections.
In some races, the nominees selected in primaries will face opponents in the Nov. 6 general election. In others, the winner faces no
opposition later.
An unofficial, preliminary count showed that about 109,426 Arkansans — or 6.4 percent of the state’s 1.7 million registered voters — cast early or absentee votes, according to data from Brandon Newell, department supervisor in the Elections Division of Republican Secretary of State Mark Martin’s office.
Early and absentee totals showed that Republican votes of 69,033 — or 63 percent of the total early votes — surpassed the Democrat vote of 38,681 (35.5 percent) and 1,712 (1.5 percent) “other” votes, or those cast in only the nonpartisan judicial general election. People can choose to vote only in the judicial election and skip the party primaries.
By comparison, the 2014 preferential primary and judicial general elections had about 100,793 early and absentee voters — or 6.2 percent of the 1,624,187 registered voters in that election.
This year’s preliminary, unofficial early voting total is an increase of 8,633, or 8.5 percent, compared with 2014’s spring elections.
Voting is heavier in presidential election years. In the 2016 primaries, 220,151 early and absentee votes were cast, or about 13 percent of the 1.6 million registered voters at the time.
“I think it will be below what we’ve seen in the past for a nonpresidential election,” Jennifer Price, Washington County’s election coordinator, said Monday.
By the close of the polls Monday, Washington County had 4,550 early and absentee votes. That’s higher than in the 2014 primary when 2,817 early and absentee ballots were cast, but much lower compared with the 2016 presidential primary, in which more than 12,000 early votes were cast.
In Benton County, election officials echoed Price’s characterization of voter turnout.
“Right now, we’re at about 4.5 percent voter turnout, which is low,” Dana Caler, elections administrator for the Benton County Clerk’s Office, said midday Monday. “In 2014 we had 5.19 percent in early voting, so we’re below that.”
The Benton County early vote total reached 7,341 by the end of the day Monday, or 4.8 percent. Benton County has 152,826 registered voters.
Chris Powell, a spokesman for Martin, declined to make a statewide projection of how many will make it to the polls this year. Primary turnout seems to be inconsistent from one cycle to another, Powell said, and depends heavily on whether there are local races.
“Turnout so far seems to be pretty low, but not uncommon for an midterm primary election,” Powell said.
Kim Dennison, election coordinator for Benton County, said the county has had no problems with the new voting machines that are being used for the first time in a major election. Washington County voters have used the same machines in the past.
Connie Vanni of Bentonville and Jessica Bunch of Rogers are mother and daughter and said they always try to vote in the early voting period.
“There’s less traffic and fewer people in line,” Bunch said.
Both women said the new machines worked well.
“They were very nice,” Vanni said. “It was quick and easy.”
“They had everything organized,” Bunch said.
Caler and Dennison said most Benton County voters were complying with the requirement to show their identification before voting.
The Arkansas Supreme Court recently reversed a circuit court injunction blocking Act 633 of 2017 and ruled that election officials could enforce the state’s disputed voter-ID law.
Dennison said the county staff was spending some time Monday delivering voting machines to the last of the 34 vote centers that will be open today.
Price said she and her staff also were spending much of their time Monday gearing up for today’s voting.
“We’re delivering and getting everything all laid out in all 45 sites for tomorrow,” she said Monday. “That’s what today is for. We’re ready for a larger turnout if we’re going to get it.”
Early and absentee voters arrived at a steady pace in Boone County, said County Clerk Crystal Graddy said.
A couple of local races drew 1,742 early and absentee voters by the close of the polls Monday, Graddy said. The numbers are low compared with the 2014 primary, in which 2,210 Boone County voters headed to the polls early.
She credits new voting machines and the Boone County voting center on Central Avenue in Harrison for a carefree election. The stand-alone center is easier to navigate than the usual aging and narrow county courthouses and is a one-stop shop for voters, Graddy said.
“It’s been phenomenal,” Graddy said. “It makes all the difference in the world. There was never a line over 15 minutes long in the presidential election. We were the first in the state to report the results and be out of the building by 9:30 that night.”