Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Early voting begins in Arkansas

More people in region cast ballots than in last midterm elections

- MICHAEL R. WICKLINE, HUNTER FIELD AND JOHN MORITZ

Far more people cast ballots on the first day of early voting Monday in Benton and Washington counties than in the last midterm elections.

In Benton County, more people voted early on the first available day this election than in the presidenti­al election in

2016.

Statewide figures won’t be available through Secretary of State Mark Martin’s office until this morning, said Martin spokesman Chris Powell.

Also on the first day of early voting, polling sites in Garland County shut down for 30 minutes to an hour after voters realized Democratic secretary of state candidate Susan Inman of Little Rock had been left off the ballot. Under state law, the hours for early voting are from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays-Fridays and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays, although individual sites may be open fewer hours. Early voting ends by 5 p.m. on the final day, Nov. 5.

Arkansans will be electing four congressio­nal representa­tives, seven state constituti­onal officers, a state Supreme Court justice, state lawmakers and local officials. They’ll also decide the fate of a proposed initiated act that would raise the state’s minimum wage by $2.50 an hour to $11 an hour by 2021,

and proposed constituti­onal amendments to allow the state to issue licenses for four full-fledged casinos and to require photo ID for voters to cast ballots. A 2017 state law already requires voters to present a photo ID to cast ballots.

The state’s number of registered voters has increased slightly from 1.759 million in the 2016 general election to 1.782 million for this year’s general election, Powell said.

“As far as turnout, no big prediction really,” Powell wrote in an email to this newspaper.

“While primary turnout tends to vary, general election turnout has been pretty consistent in recent cycles. Going back to least 2004, general election turnout has been around 65% in presidenti­al years and around 50% in midterms,” Powell said.

In Benton County, there was a 105 percent increase in first-day voters compared with four years ago, said Benton County Elections Administra­tor Dana Caler. She said that 4,035 people had voted, compared with 1,970 in 2014 and 1,144 in 2010.

“We’re way past those midterm elections,” she said.

While the county normally averages a turnout of around 45 percent of voters in midterm elections, Caler said that rising numbers in more recent elections and an abundance of competitiv­e mayoral and statehouse races this year could cause turnout to climb even higher.

“We could be looking at about 60 percent turnout hopefully,” she said.

In Washington County, election officials were reporting a similar spike in turnout.

When polls closed Monday, 2,975 people had voted early in Washington County, compared with 1,087 on the first day of the 2014 midterms, according to the election coordinato­r’s office. This almost tripling of the vote is a 174 percent increase.

Washington County Clerk Becky Lewallen said Monday set a record for first-day early voting totals in a midterm election.

Bryan Poe, elections director for the Pulaski County Election Commission, said 5,991 people early voted in Pulaski County on Monday, compared with 4,675 on the first day of early voting in the 2014 midterm election. Figures for the first day of early voting in the 2010 midterm were not immediatel­y available, he said.

Poe said he is expecting about 55 percent to 60 percent of the county’s 247,512 registered voters to turn out for this year’s general election, up from the turnout in the last midterm election in 2014 because there are more contested races for local offices.

Poe said he expects the five-candidate race for Little Rock mayor to help fuel voter turnout.

INMAN SNAFU

Garland County Election Commission Chairman Gene Haley attributed the “inadverten­t” omission to a transcript­ion error, and he said that 222 ballots were cast before the problem was discovered. Those votes can’t be changed, “except for maybe a court order,” Haley said.

“Once it’s in the scanner it can’t be changed,” Haley said. “Now, my hope is this race isn’t decided by less than 222 votes.”

Haley said that election officials discovered an issue when they were programmin­g election equipment last week preventing the names of candidates who had primary opponents from being printed out on the ballot cards. To fix it, Haley said, officials redid the program, entering each candidate’s name manually. Inman’s name was left off by mistake during that process, he said.

Haley also said that the name of Inman’s Republican opponent, current state Land Commission­er John Thurston of East End, was misspelled. Election officials, Haley said, began rectifying both issues immediatel­y after they were found.

Inman was frustrated by the snafu on Monday, noting that she lost out on votes.

“This should not happen,” Inman said. “There are numerous checks in place to ensure it doesn’t.”

She found out about her name being omitted after a friend from Garland County texted her after voting. She encouraged voters to check their ballots, and if they discover an issue like a missing candidate, don’t submit the ballot.

“Today’s monumental mistake, which left my name off of Garland County’s early voting ballot, underscore­s the need for Arkansas to do its voting by mail,” Inman said later in a written statement.

“There are constant problems with these election machines and today’s error is just another in a long line of examples that prove it’s time for Arkansas to adopt a vote by mail system.”

EARLY VOTING

In Little Rock, Democratic gubernator­ial candidate Jared Henderson of Little Rock cast his ballot on Monday, shortly after the early voting site on Markham Street in downtown Little Rock opened Monday morning.

Henderson was accompanie­d by his parents, Dennis and Becky Henderson, his wife Melanie Prince and the couple’s son Duke.

“Honestly I am excited,” he said. “We were able to get my whole family together and we wanted to be able to do it together and it’s just incredible. We want to spend the rest of the next 16 days meeting as many people as we can. We are about to hit the road.

“I am really proud of the race we have run. We are just going to have to see. This is the most unpredicta­ble election of our lives. We don’t know who is going to turn out and who is going to stay home,” Henderson said.

Meanwhile, Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson of Rogers “is basically doing his day job today,” Hutchinson campaign spokesman Jamie Barker said Monday. The governor campaigned in Northwest Arkansas on Saturday and Sunday, Barker noted.

It hasn’t been determined when Hutchinson will cast his ballot, Barker said.

Libertaria­n gubernator­ial candidate Mark West of Batesville said Monday that he’s “working all day today” and “doing a Facebook Townhall tonight at 7:30 p.m.

“We are going to early vote. We just haven’t decided when as of yet. Waiting on my son’s band schedule for Saturday because we are looking at going then,” West wrote in an email.

Inman found out about her name being omitted after a friend from Garland County texted her after voting. She encouraged voters to check their ballots, and if they discover an issue like a missing candidate, don’t submit the ballot.

 ?? NWA Democrat-Gazette/DAVID GOTTSCHALK ?? Ellen Weintraut of Fayettevil­le carries her son Henry, 18 months, Monday as she casts her ballot at the Washington County Courthouse in Fayettevil­le. Early voting for the Nov. 6 general election began Monday and runs through Nov. 5.
NWA Democrat-Gazette/DAVID GOTTSCHALK Ellen Weintraut of Fayettevil­le carries her son Henry, 18 months, Monday as she casts her ballot at the Washington County Courthouse in Fayettevil­le. Early voting for the Nov. 6 general election began Monday and runs through Nov. 5.
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 ?? NWA Democrat-Gazette/DAVID GOTTSCHALK ?? Don Rosenbaum (left) of Goshen is the first in line Monday to enter the Quorum Court Room to vote at the Washington County Courthouse in Fayettevil­le.
NWA Democrat-Gazette/DAVID GOTTSCHALK Don Rosenbaum (left) of Goshen is the first in line Monday to enter the Quorum Court Room to vote at the Washington County Courthouse in Fayettevil­le.

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