A shortage of paper ballots in Benton County is widespread said John Brown Junior, chairman of the Benton County Election Commission.
Brown was in Fort Smith picking up additional paper stock to print ballots. He said ballots must be printed on special paper.
“We have to make due with what we can get,” Brown said. “There is no more paper stock in NorthWest Arkansas.”
Brown said there are 57 precincts in Benton County. He was unsure of how many were out of paper ballots.
Robbyn Tumey, election commissioner, said the commission printed two times the amount of ballots used in past election. She was unable to say how many ballots were distributed to precincts or how many precincts were out of ballots.
“We got hit hard today and it was brutal,” Turney said. “You can calculate every day all day long. If we would have printed three times, it would still not have been enough.”
Turney said the commission still has some ballots that are being distributed to precincts in Benton County. She said the commission is also preparing to print more once Brown returns with additional paper stock.
Meanwhile, the line to vote at a Cave Springs polling location was out the door and on to the sidewalk. Police were directing traffic in the area.