Commission fails to file state report, costs SFC money

County will not be reimbursed by state for March 2020 primary

The St. Francis County Election Commission has cost the county about $20,000 after failing to file a report with the State Board of Election Commissioners on the March 2020 primary.

The report was to be filed by commissioner Frederick Freeman who, on Jan. 23, 2020, signed a form designating him as the person to complete the form in order for the county to be reimbursed.

The report, which was due by May 1 of this year, and no later than June 30 when the state’s fiscal year ends, was never filed, so the county was not reimbursed for the primary.

Election commission chairman Chris Oswalt told Hughes, in an email, that he had spoken with Freeman about the paperwork twice in April this year after receiving a phone call from state officials asking about the reports.

Oswalt said Freeman told him, via text, that he would check on the matter.

In a letter to Hughes, dated Oct. 22, Freeman claims he was too busy with his business to file the paperwork. He lists several “assessments” in the letter to Hughes, claiming, among other things, that there were “bad cells/formulas in the spread sheet” and that there was a new commissioner in 2020. He also blames Covid and “multiple elections” during the height of the pandemic.

In 2020, the county only had the March primary and the November general election. This year, while the reports for 2020 were still due, the commission held a sales tax election in Forrest City and a school election with a runoff in the PalestineWheatley School District.

Freeman said, “The execution of CARES Act Pandemic Reimbursement Act request/documents garnered and required more attention and was actively and properly addressed during this time period. The general pre, ongoing and post operation of three elections with very large turnouts in the county commanded more attention and the Covid-19 pandemic significantly increased the demand for my business services around the state and thus, those demands lessen my availability.”

He continued, “The above items are some of the various things that made it difficult of me to timely complete the March 2020 reimbursement request. However, as an experienced commissioner, I take responsibility for the reimbursement not being completed in a timely manner and I apologize for this misstep.”

Today, Freeman said others in county government were aware the forms had not been filed before the deadline, claiming the State Board of Elections notifies several county officials when forms are not submitted. “The county judge, treasurer and clerk all get a letter from the state making them aware it has not been submitted,” he said.

However, St. Francis County Judge Gary Hughes said that is not the case anymore.

“They stopped sending those letters,” said Hughes. “The only letter we received was in September a year ago. I talked to them at the state and they said they quit sending letters. Frederick is exactly correct in that it had always been the process. I don’t know what changed in Little Rock for them to stop that, but it stopped.”

Freeman also disputed that he is the only person authorized to send the reports to the state, regardless of his signature on the form saying he is the one to submit them.

“Any commissioner could send it in if they knew what they were doing. The question is the responsibility and who is the person responsible for turning it in,” said Freeman.

Freeman said he received the necessary paperwork to complete the reporting from County Clerk Brandi McCoy and election coordinator Sandra Wright. “Please note that the county clerk and the election coordinator provided their input, information and completed their tasks relative to the reimbursement task,” said Freeman.

During a meeting of the Quorum Court’s budget committee on Tuesday, Justice Regan Hill asked that the matter be placed on the Court’s agenda for the Nov. 16 meeting. Justice Roy Winfrey asked that election commissioners be asked to attend that meeting to talk to justices about to the lost funding.

“Maybe with all of us, we can see what can be put in place to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” said Hill.

“If it’s lost, it’s lost, but we don’t want to lose any more,” said Justice Earnestine Weaver.