BENTONVILLE — Benton County will go back to paper ballots if the chairman of the Election Commission can gain approval of his plans for elections.
At A Glance
Rogers Runoffs
Early voting will start Tuesday for two Rogers City Council runoff races. In the Ward 3, Position 2 race, Keith Jackson and Andrew Hatfield advanced to the runoff. Incumbent Bob Goodwin faces Carlos Chicas in the race for the Ward 4, Position 1 seat.
Source: Staff Report
John Brown Jr., commission chairman, said Friday he has several proposals he’ll make to the commission and other county officials to ponder over the next few months.
Brown revealed his preferences during a meeting called to certify results of the Nov. 6 general election. The county’s Election Day voting process was plagued with long lines and equipment malfunctions that delayed the preliminary counting of Election Day and early voting ballots from Nov. 6 to Nov. 9.
At Friday’s meeting the final overseas ballots were counted along with provisional ballots cast Election Day and set aside until officials could review them and decide whether they would be counted. Altogether, the commission added 53 overseas ballots to the vote totals and counted 49 of 90 provisional ballots. The final results will be posted on the county website at co.benton.ar.us.
Also during the meeting, Centerton Mayor Bill Edwards asked the commission to consider dividing his city into more than one voting precinct and provide more voting machines. Edwards said he was “a little bit frustrated” by the long lines on Election Day.
“We had only six machines for 10,000 people,” Edwards said. “I’ve talked to people in other locations who had one-fourth the number of voters that had the same number of machines. I would strongly suggest the commission consider adding some extra machines.”
After Edwards spoke, Brown offered his vision of future elections. He said the county is having difficulty finding polling places, with many churches using their facilities for schools and day care centers and some denying use of their facilities because they object to some of the “social issues” appearing on the ballot.
“There are a number of places we don’t have any more,” Brown said.
Brown said the county could only buy used voting machines if that was considered as a solution. He said his preference is to go to paper ballots, with electronic voting machines being kept for compliance the with Americans With Disabilities Act. He said the county could buy a new, larger machine to count the paper ballots, noting the $125,000 price tag could be a hindrance.
Brown also said he will propose the county open three more offsite early voting locations, one in the Lowell/Bethel Heights area, one in the Gentry/Decatur area and one in the Prairie Creek area.
Brown asked for public comment on his proposals, noting the terms of the present commissioners expire in January.
“If there’s a new commission, they need public input,” he said.
Vivian Michaels, chairman of the Benton County Democratic Party Central Committee, said she thought the county should buy more voting machines. She said the polling place where she worked Election Day had only two machines and one was constantly breaking down, causing long lines. She also said the county could expand early voting and consider online voting, noting that process is being used in Oregon.
“Why can’t we do that?” she said. “Are we stupid?”
The commission tool no action Friday on Brown’s suggestions. He indicated he wanted to have a lengthy, open discussion of the election process before the commission takes any plan to the Quorum Court for approval.