A lot to ponder Brenda Blagg

The 2020 election goes well beyond presidential politics

The Nov. 3 general election is expected to be the most consequential election in recent years. The reason, of course, is the presidential race that leads the ballot and overwhelms most political conversation.

But this election is about considerably more, and the onus is on the voter to know what is on the ballot.

Fortunately, Arkansas offers a long-standing online service that lets voters confirm their voter registration and see a sample ballot for their specific precinct.

Called Voter View, it lists polling places and provides a link to a map for each. It also identifies early voting sites in each county. The service is accessible online at http://voterview.ar-nova.org/.

Fill out the form asking for your name and date of birth to look up your registration and pinpoint which ballot you will receive. Scroll past the polling places and early voting sites to find the sample ballot for your precinct.

The sooner you do that, the sooner you’ll realize how much more than the presidential race is on this year’s ballot.

The presidential race itself has a total of 13 tandem tickets for president and vice president. You may need to search to find the ticket you support among candidates from eight different parties and five Independent tickets.

Every Arkansas ballot will also have the race for U.S. Senate between the incumbent, Republican Sen. Tom Cotton, and his Libertarian Party challenger, Ricky Dale Harrington Jr.

Three of the state’s four congressional seats, all currently held by Republicans, are contested while U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford in District 1 has no opposition.

The most heated congressional race is in the state’s 2nd District where incumbent U.S. Rep. French Hill is challenged by Democrat Joyce Elliott, a state senator.

There is a three-way race in the state’s 3rd District among U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, Democrat Celeste Williams and Libertarian Michael J. Kalagias.

In the 4th District, U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman faces Democrat William H. Hanson and Libertarian Frank Gilbert.

Further complicating ballots will be runoffs for nonpartisan judicial offices around the state. Several circuit and district judgeships will be decided.

Ballots differentiate even more where there are contested partisan races for state senator and state representative.

Then come partisan contests for countywide offices as well as district races for quorum court and constable.

Contested nonpartisan races for mayor and city governing boards may also be on some ballots as may local ballot issues.

In some jurisdictions, voters will also decide nonpartisan school elections.

Capping all the ballots will be this year’s statewide ballot issues.

The Legislature has referred three proposed constitutional amendments.

Issue 1 would permanently extend a half-cent sales tax for state highways, county roads and city streets, state and local bridges and other surface transportation.

Issue 2 would alter term limits for members of the Legislature.

Issue 3 would significantly change the citizen initiative process and increase the number of votes required in the Legislature to refer issues to the ballot.

Three citizen initiatives circulated for this year’s ballot were struck down by the state Supreme Court. One of them is printed on the ballot, but votes on it will not count as of now.

The University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service maintains a straightforward review of ballot issues at uaex.edu/business-communities/ voter-education/state-ballot-issues.aspx.

Prospective voters in the Nov. 3 general election have just days to get registered. The deadline is Monday.

Forms are available online from the secretary of state’s office and from county clerks’ offices and may also be picked up at local revenue offices or public libraries. The completed form must be delivered to the local clerk’s office by Monday.

Registered voters who wish to vote absentee may apply online, by mail or in person to their respective county clerks’ offices.

That should be done as soon as possible to allow time to receive the ballot and return it to be counted. Mailed absentee ballots must be in the county clerks’ hands by Oct. 27. Absentee ballots may be delivered to the clerks in person through Nov. 2.

With heavy absentee voting expected, due to covid-19, some clerks are providing additional ballot drop-off opportunities. All are encouraging absentee voters to submit their ballots as soon as possible.

Early voting begins Oct. 19 between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Saturdays. Early voting ends at 5 p.m. on Nov. 2.

On Election Day, polls open at 7:30 a.m. and close at 7:30 p.m.

In Arkansas, some counties still require those who vote on election day to vote at their assigned precincts but most have established “vote centers” instead. In the latter instance, voters may go to any of the centers, not just their own precincts to cast in-person votes.