Voters to cast ballots today in primary, judicial races

Today, Arkansans will get their final chance to go to the polls to cast their votes in presidential primaries and many other election contests across the state.

Poll locations are open from 7:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. The votes of those who voted early or absentee will be tallied after the polls close.

For this year’s primary election, Republican Secretary of State John Thurston’s office declined to project the turnout of the state’s 1.73 million registered voters, said Thurston spokesman Chris Powell.

At least 158,000 Arkansans cast early votes in today’s election, according to records provided by the secretary of state’s office about 4 p.m. Monday. (Early voting ended at 5 p.m.) These early votes included at least 81,680 in the Republican primary and at least 72,533 votes in the Democratic primary, the secretary of state

office’s records show. Today’s election also includes a nonpartisan general election.

In 2016, early votes totaled 204,152 in the Republican and Democratic presidential primaries, Powell said.

The final turnout for Arkansas’ primaries in the 2016 presidential election year was close to 40% — 644,523 of 1.6 million registered voters. In 2012, it was nearly 22% — 335,885 of 1.5 million registered voters, according to the secretary of state’s website.

In 2008, the presidential primaries in Arkansas were held in February, separate from the rest of the party primaries that were held in May.

Turnout in the 2008 presidential primaries was 34.64% — 544,170 of 1.5 million registered voters — but the turnout in the rest of the primaries in May was 18%, according to the secretary of state’s website.

In Arkansas’ most populous county, Pulaski, the number of early voters totaled 23,811, compared with 26,375 in 2016.

“I would expect we would probably see about a 10% to 15% drop-off from what we saw in 2016,” when 92,774 county voters cast ballots, said Bryan Poe, director of the Pulaski County Election Commission. “Just the fact you only have a contested primary on one side of the presidential race is probably a pretty good indicator.”

PRESIDENTIAL BALLOT

Three Republican presidential candidates are on the ballot in Arkansas.

President Donald Trump and former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld are still running; Roque de la Fuente withdrew, Powell said.

The Arkansas ballot has 18 Democratic presidential candidates.

The six candidates still competing include former Vice President Joe Biden, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, attorney Mosie Boyd of Fort Smith, U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

In Washington County, election coordinator Jennifer Price said that county’s early voter turnout had exceeded the total in 2016, with nearly 13,000 so far.

“We are expecting probably between a 30% and 40% overall voter turnout,” Price said. “So we probably should see another 30,000 voters [today].”

Price noted that inclement weather had been forecast for Election Day, but the chances of rain dissipated as of Monday afternoon.

In Craighead County, County Clerk Kade Holliday said he expects the number of voters in the primary election to “settle in somewhere between 12,000 and 15,000 depending on the forecast [today],” or from 22.2% to 27.7% of the county’s roughly 54,000 registered voters.

Primary turnout in Craighead County totaled 18,532 in 2016, he said.

SUPER TUESDAY

For the second consecutive presidential election, Arkansas is holding its primary and judicial elections in early March in conjunction with a number of other states.

These 13 other states are Alabama, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont and Virginia. American Samoa also is voting.

Arkansas’s early election date changed from its traditional late May date because the Legislature and Gov. Asa Hutchinson enacted Act 545 of 2019.

The law sets the primary in March in presidential years and in May in gubernatorial election years.

Act 545 also moved the fiscal legislative session — held in even-numbered years — from its normal start time in February to April in presidential election years.

Hutchinson said Monday that he’s “real pleased” with shifting the presidential primary to early March.

“This is sort of like the Democratic turn and you’ve seen multiple candidates coming in here campaigning,” the Republican governor said. In 2016, the Republicans had 13 candidates on the Arkansas ballot.

“It’s energized the voters, which is really important this year, because we really don’t have that many contested local races in various parts of the state, so this is important for voter participation,” Hutchinson said.

“But we are selecting the next president and to give Arkansas a say in the major parties’ nominees is very important to our state and to those that care about the direction of our country,” he said.

DEMOCRATIC VISITORS

The Democratic contenders who visited the state in the past few weeks include Bloomberg, Warren and U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota. Klobuchar suspended her campaign Monday and endorsed Biden, whose wife Jill Biden has visited Arkansas twice in the past few weeks.

Vincent Morgan of Mabelvale, a nurse practitioner, said the presidential race lured him to vote early on Monday.

He said he voted for Joe Biden because “Biden is a moderate [and] he’s not for Medicare for All.

“He’s actually helped support [former President] Barack Obama,” Morgan said.

Paige Maddox of Little Rock, who is a medical student, said she voted for Warren.

“I always vote for women,” she said. “I like her humble beginnings and how she takes on [rivals] in the big debates. I just think she is really smart.”

Seth McClendon, a 25-year-old emergency room scribe and his co-worker, 24-year-old Melissa Sorsby, said they were both supporting Sanders because of his support for a single-payer

“Medicare for All” health care system.

“I really think it would be best if you set up a Social Security-like system where everyone pays in,” Sorsby said as she waited in line to vote at the Pulaski County Regional Building.

PREVIOUS MOVES

In 2016, Arkansas held its primary on March 1 because the Legislature, in a 2015 special session, enacted a law at Hutchinson’s request to shift the date from the traditional late May spot on the calendar.

The move was designed to create the “SEC primary” with other Southern states and to bolster the role of Arkansas and the region in the presidential primary process. The SEC is the Southeastern Conference, a collegiate athletic conference.

In 2016, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Arkansas first lady Hillary Clinton ran for their respective parties’ presidential nominations. Clinton won Arkansas’ primary and the Democratic presidential nomination. Huckabee, who had dropped out by then, was still on the Arkansas primary ballot. He lost the Arkansas primary and the Republican presidential nomination to Trump.

In 2008, when the primary was in February, Clinton won the state’s primary but lost the nomination to Obama.

Huckabee won the Arkansas primary but lost the nomination to U.S. Sen. John McCain.

OTHER ELECTIONS

Also on ballots today is a statewide race for the state Supreme Court. Some ballots also will have one of two positions on the Arkansas Court of Appeals.

Pulaski County Circuit Judge Morgan “Chip” Welch and Workers’ Compensation Commission Judge Barbara Webb are vying to succeed retiring state Supreme Court Justice Josephine “Jo” Hart in Position 4 on the Supreme Court.

Arkansas voters also will consider candidates for 29 circuit judge posts, 19 district judge posts and a prosecuting attorney position.

There are three contested Republican primaries and two contested Democratic primaries for state Senate seats. There also are 13 contested Republican primaries and three contested Democratic primaries for state House seats.

The state House of Representatives is now composed of 75 Republicans and 23 Democrats with two vacant seats that will be filled in special elections. The Senate includes 26 Republicans and nine Democrats.

Information for this article was contributed by John Moritz of the

“We are expecting probably between a 30% and 40% overall voter turnout.” — Jennifer Price, Washington County election coordinator