BENTONVILLE — Scott Grigsby and Jim Parsons said Monday they will accept the result of their contest, which remains in question as Benton County election officials await the counting of a handful of overseas and provisional ballots.
At A Glance
Recount Rules
Arkansas law has no provision for an automatic recount in close elections. Arkansas Code section 7-5-319, subsection a, allows candidates to ask for a recount.
(1) Any candidate voted for who may be dissatisfied with the returns from any precinct shall have a recount of the votes cast therein upon the candidate's presenting the county board of election commissioners with a petition requesting the recount.
(2) When the number of outstanding absentee ballots of overseas voters is not sufficient to change the results of the election, the candidate must present the petition no later than two (2) days after the county board declares preliminary and unofficial results of the election, including a statement of the number of outstanding absentee ballots of overseas voters.
(3) When the number of outstanding absentee ballots of overseas voters is sufficient to potentially change the results of the election, the candidate must present the petition at any time before the county board finally completes the canvass of the returns of the election and certifies the result.
Source: Staff Report
With 6,309 votes counted so far, just 11 ballots separate the two candidates in a race for the Zone 1 seat on the NorthWest Arkansas Community College Board of Trustees. According to results posted by Benton County on Friday, Grigsby has 3,160 votes and Parsons has 3,149 votes.
“Isn’t that close?” Parsons said Monday. “Over 6,000 votes and just that many separating us.”
John Brown Jr., chairman of the Benton County Election Commission, said the commission will meet Friday to certify the final results of the Nov. 6 election. Brown said there are still some provisional ballots in the Benton County Clerk’s Office and state law gives overseas voters until 10 days after election day to return their ballots. Brown said he didn’t know if any of the provisional or overseas ballots were from voters eligible to cast ballots in the Grigsby-Parsons contest.
Jim Hall, executive director for community and government relations for the college, said the new board will not be seated until January so the results of the Grigsby-Parsons race should be known by then. The college also has two vacant seats on the board and has to wait until Gov. Mike Beebe fills those seat by appointment, Hall said.
Grigsby, 60, is a regional manager for Arvest Bank. He has lived in Bella Vista for 12 years. Grigsby served on the Illinois Valley Community College Board of Trustees from 1988-94 and chairman from 1995-96.
Grigsby said he is ready for the contest to end and is prepared to accept the certification of the vote as final.
“I appreciate anybody who went out and stood in line for three hours to vote — for me or anybody,” Grigsby said. “I look forward to the final results. I am not going to question the final results.”
Parsons, 79, retired as division chairman of science and math from NorthWest Arkansas Community College. Parsons has lived in Bella Vista for 12 years and Rogers for 10 years.
Parsons served on the Board of Trustees from 1996-2002 and was on the Bella Vista Property Owners Association Board for 38 days in 2010. He made unsuccessful runs for Arkansas state representative seats in 1986, 1994, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2010 and 2012 along with Arkansas Secretary of State in 1990, Arkansas senate seat in 1992, Bella Vista Mayor in 2006 and Bella Vista City Council in 2008.
Parsons also indicated he will not challenge the final result.
“I’ve been in close races before,” Parsons said. “I’ll accept the final outcome. That’s all I can do. It’s already been decided, they just have to count the votes. It appears I’ve lost another one. Those overseas ballots are mostly military. Maybe I’ll get their votes.”