Benton County Ready For Election Day Weather

BENTONVILLE — Benton County election officials said they are ready to deal with winter weather in the forecast for Tuesday’s election on rural ambulance service.

County Clerk Tena O’Brien said she began to work on a plan to get Tuesday’s polling places open in the event of winter weather after snow and ice kept county offices closed Feb. 3.

“I contacted Judge (Bob) Clinard and Sheriff (Kelley) Cradduck and the sheriff said he’d help us,” O’Brien said.

Web Watch

Voting Information

Voters in Benton County who are uncertain if they are eligible to vote or need to find the location of their polling place may obtain that information from the registration information section of “VoterView” on the Secretary of State’s Website at www.voterview.ar-nova.org

Kim Dennison, election coordinator, said she contacted the precinct sheriffs and poll workers scheduled to work in Tuesday’s election and most said they expected to have no problems getting to and from the polling places.

“I’ve contacted all of our sheriffs and compiled a list of the poll workers who think they might need help,” Dennison said. “The sheriff offered the use of his deputies to pick up and deliver materials and poll workers if necessary. Our precinct sheriffs have keys to the polling places, so we shouldn’t have any problems getting into them.”

All of the polling places have enough workers assigned to them that even if some were absent, there should still be the three needed to meet state requirements, Dennison said.

“In a worst-case scenario, we’ve got office staff who could work if need be,” O’Brien said.

The election will determine the fate of the plan to pay for rural ambulance service. The Quorum Court in September created an emergency medical services district with an $85 fee to pay the county’s cost to make service available. Only residents of the proposed district are eligible to vote on the issue.

Tuesday’s vote also will be the first in the county under Act 595 of 2013 requiring voters show photo identification to vote. Information on the act and its requirements are available from the Secretary of State’s Office website at www.FaceYourVote.org. The website lists acceptable forms of identification. Voters who don’t bring an acceptable photo ID will be allowed to cast a provisional ballot, O’Brien said.

Provisional ballots will be counted if the voter returns to the County Clerk’s office or the Election Commission office by noon the Monday after the election with either proof of identity or an affidavit swearing the voter has no ID because of indigence or a religious objection to being photographed, O’Brien said.

Early voting ends Monday at the three County Clerk’s offices in Rogers, Bentonville and Siloam Springs. Early voting hours are from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Through the end of Friday, 574 ballots had been cast in the first four days of early voting.

Upcoming Events