Election sees few glitches at polling sites

Faulty flash-drive installations and a brand-new election commission closed a county polling site for nearly three hours and spurred a lawsuit that made its way to the state’s Supreme Court during Tuesday’s judicial and party primary elections.

Tuesday afternoon, Lonoke County Circuit Judge Barbara Elmore denied a petition by Democrats to keep that county’s polls open until 10 p.m. — as opposed to the 7:30 p.m. statewide closing time set by law — after an election site in England was closed when voting machines went on the fritz.

Elmore’s decision was appealed to the state Supreme Court late Tuesday. The high court held a conference call about the lawsuit and ruled against keeping the polls open, said Chris Burks, an attorney with the Democratic Party of Arkansas. Attorneys were notified of the decision just before 7 p.m.

The Democratic Party and registered voters Ellis Williams III and Elsie Yarbrough filed the lawsuit just after lunch Tuesday against the Lonoke County Election Commission.

In their lawsuit, Williams and Yarbrough said their polling place — the England Recreation and Fitness Center on 107 Valley View Drive — was closed when they arrived shortly after polls statewide were to open at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Then, when the polling place opened at 10 a.m., the lawsuit claims, there were no paper ballots for the Democratic primaries, but plenty for other elections.

“Republican- controlled election commissions cannot deny due process and equal protection of the law,” Burks said.

Messages left for Williams and Yarbrough were not returned as of late Tuesday.

Arkansas Democratic Party Chairman Michael John Gray blamed the problems on the secretary of state’s office for not giving enough backing to individual counties to prevent election problems such as aging voting equipment and weak contingency plans.

“The problems arise on the local level, but really they are hamstrung by the lack of support from the state. In this particular instance, it’s just not acceptable,” Gray said. “Safeguards are not put in place so we’re having to file lawsuits to get problems fixed.”