Pea Ridge voters may get a new polling place as the Benton County Election Commission works to revise election procedures to minimize problems with long lines and balky voting machines encountered during the Nov. 6 general election.
Mayor Jackie Crabtree and Jerry Nichols, who served as precinct sheriff in Pea Ridge, made a presentation to the commission and suggested the new location and several other changes to remedy their election problems. Nichols told the commission there were not enough voting machines, especially after one broke down while voting was going on, and an inadequate number paper ballots to keep the line of voters moving.
“We had a 600-foot-long line on election night of people waiting to vote,” Nichols said.
Nichols and Crabtree suggested the commission consider an early voting site in Pea Ridge, at least for major elections. Crabtree said the city council meeting room in Pea Ridge City Hall could be used for early voting.
Commissioner Robbyn Tumey said the commission has to consider the cost of an early voting site and the number of voters it might serve. She said 711 voters in that precinct cast their ballots during the early voting period of the Nov. 6 election. Having an early voting station open for two weeks would cost about $9,000, Tumey said, making Pea Ridge an unlikely location.
“We would have to have a fairly large, urban area to justify that kind of cost,” she said.
John Brown Jr. Election Commission chairman, said the group is reviewing many possibly changes, including expanded early voting. Brown said the Commission also has to weigh the consequences of any decisions, pointing out that adding early voting locations will affect the number of voting machines available for use on election day because of requirements of state election laws.
“We have 261 Ivotronics that go out,” Brown said of the county’s electronic voting machines. “We used 55 of those at the six early voting locations we had. Those 55 being taken out of circulation hurt us. That’s why you didn’t have enough.”