Judge says Bailey eligible to hold city council seat
Secretary of State documents prove candidate is registered voter in SFC
A newly-elected Forrest City City Council member whose qualifications to seek election were questioned in a lawsuit has been ruled eligible to take office in January.
First Judicial District Circuit Court Judge Danny Glover ruled Tuesday afternoon that Jim Bailey was qualified to seek election to the Ward 1, Pos. 1 seat despite the lawsuit filed on Nov. 8 challenging Bailey’s status as a qualified voter.
Bailey won the council seat over incumbent Rev. Ronald Williams. According to unofficial election results, 253 votes were cast for Bailey with Williams receiving 238 votes. Bailey also challenged Williams for that council seat in the November 2018 election when Williams was reelected. At that time, Williams received 308 votes to Bailey’s 254.
The lawsuit challenging Bailey’s status as a registered voter was filed in St. Francis County Circuit Court by Leo Humphrey and Lawrence Smith. The defendants named in the lawsuit were SFC Clerk Brandi McCoy, members of the county’s election commission, and candidates Bailey and Williams.
As the hearing began, attorney Mike Easley, who represented Bailey, told the court he had the proof to show, without calling any witnesses, that there was an error in the clerk’s office that deleted Bailey’s name from the county’s voter registration system and that he had “clear evidence” from the Arkansas Secretary of State’s office to prove Bailey is a registered voter.
“I realize I’m showing my cards before we even get started, but I don’t want to waste this court’s time, my client’s time or the time of Mr. (James) Valley and his clients for an unnecessary hearing when we have proof positive the man is a registered voter,” said Easley.
Attorney Fletcher Long, who represented the county officials in the lawsuit, agreed with Easley, but Valley, who represented the plaintiffs, did not.
“As they always say, there’s two sides to the story. I’m here on behalf of Leo Humphrey and others in a pre-election contest. The basic premise here is that Mr. Bailey was not a qualified elector during the time when he filed to run for office. If he’s not registered, he’s not registered and that’s a fact,” said Valley.
Glover allowed the case to proceed with the calling of witnesses, who included Williams, Humphrey, Bailey and McCoy.
McCoy spent the most time on the witness stand, testifying that an error occurred in her office’s computer system. She said that when another person registered to vote in 2020, the process removed Bailey as a registered voter from the county’s records.
Bailey was notified in a letter from McCoy, dated Nov. 5, that he was not currently a registered voter and not qualified to seek the position.
Bailey testified Tuesday that after receiving the notification from McCoy that he did not attempt to vote in the election in which he was a candidate.
Valley contended throughout the hearing that because Bailey was not in the county’s voter system when he registered as a candidate in May that he could not have legally sought the council seat.
“It don’t matter whose mistake it was or if it was a computer glitch. If he’s not in the system, he’s not in the system,” said Valley.
“An error was made, and an error was admitted to,” said Easley. “Mr. Bailey is a registered voter. He was then and he is now. Nothing has changed other than the mistake.”
When making his ruling, Glover said, “The court finds Mr. Bailey was a qualified elector on the day he filed for office. The records show he had been a registered voter in St. Francis County up until 2020 when for some reason there was a clerical error made. Mr. Bailey was erroneously removed, but that was through no fault of his own or even to his knowledge.
“He testified he believed himself to be a registered voter and it was only in November 2022 that he was advised by the clerk that he was not a registered voter because of her research. But, during the last three weeks, that’s been clarified by the Arkansas Secretary of State. Mrs. McCoy has corrected herself and believes he is a registered voter,” continued Glover. “It would be unfair to Mr. Bailey to take his right to run for office away from him based on a clerical error so I find he was a qualified elector and should remain in office.”
Bailey was pleased with the judge’s ruling.
“I know I hadn’t done anything wrong and I want to make sure it was made all right,” said Bailey. “I’ve been running a program for years, and this has hurt the youth in my program and hurt my family. I wanted this to be corrected and it’s been corrected and awarded my way.”
“The correct result was reached today,” said Easley. “There was an error made and we don’t conduct our business on errors. When we make errors we correct them and that’s what happened – it was corrected. Jim Bailey is the proper person to be on the city council, and I think he’ll be a good council member.”
Valley said his clients intend to appeal Glover’s decision.
“It’s my understanding from talking with Mr. Williams and Mr. Humphrey that they intend to appeal to the Arkansas Supreme Court and we’ll see what they have to say about it,” said Valley.
“Of course we’re disappointed in the decision that Judge Glover made, although he seems to have been very deliberate and considerate as he went through the facts of the case,” continued Valley. “The crux of it is that Mr. Bailey, unfortunately, was not registered to vote at the time he filed for office all the way up until the error was pointed out, and then they went in and corrected it or re-registered him or something. Whether he made the mistake or clerk or anybody, he wasn’t qualified to run or hold office.”
SFC Election Commission Chair Patti Long said commissioners plan to meet Friday morning at the courthouse to certify the result of the council race.