County sees strong turnout for early voting

Unofficial results from Tuesday’s preferential primaries, annual school elections and nonpartisan general election showed two of the three Republican races for open justice of the peace seats on the Garland County Quorum Court were in hand at presstime.

Wastewater plant manager Jim Sorrells outpolled dental hygienist Marcia Lieblong Albaugh 287-246 with all precincts reporting in the District 10 primary.

Eric Capaci, Champion Christian College president and pastor of Gospel Light Baptist Church, led former JP George Pritchett in the District 3 primary 172-163 with all precincts reporting. Capaci trailed after early voting but overtook Pritchett as precincts began report-

ing election day results for the district comprising Hot Springs’ western corporate limits and unincorporated lands between Weston Road and Lake Hamilton.

Electrician and rental property owner Richard McGrew led Jeremy W. Brown in the District 12 primary 422-269 with 80 percent of precincts reporting. They are vying to represent the Mountain Pine area and unincorporated lands between Mountain Pine, Hot Springs and Hot Springs Village on the quorum court.

The winner will be the representative for the 2019-2020 term, as no Democrat filed in District 12.

The 6,655 early votes surpassed the county’s total from the primaries and nonpartisan judicial races during the previous federal midterm election in 2014 by 1,260 votes.

“We put so much emphasis into early voting — advertising, putting signs out — that we might have moved some election day voters to early voters,” Garland County Election Commission Chairman Gene Haley said.

At presstime, 19.42 percent, or 12,536, of the county’s 64,558 registered voters had cast ballots. Haley said Tuesday afternoon that he expected a 20-percent turnout. According to state election records, the county had a 21.10 percent turnout in the 2014 May elections, with 13,228 ballots cast. In 2010, the county had a 26.16-percent turnout, with 18,444 ballots cast

According to software the election commission uses to track voter check-ins in real time, election day voting accounted for 2,808 of the 9,463 ballots cast through the first six hours of voting Tuesday. Almost 5,000 of the ballots were cast by voters 65 and older, with the 18-24 cohort’s 226 votes accounting for the smallest turnout share.

Haley said 186 poll workers and 140 electronic ballot marking machines were assigned to the county’s 24 vote centers.