FORT SMITH - Sebastian County Election Commission Coordinator David Mansell resigned from his position last week after an error was discovered on the forthcoming election ballot.
Sebastian County Judge David Hudson said Mansell submitted his resignation on March 21, effective that day. He said he hired Mansell for the job on Jan. 19.
“It wasn’t a good match for me,” Mansell said of the job when contacted Thursday for comment.
Mansell, a Fort Smith native, said he applied for theelection commission coordinator job after working for several years in management with Mercy Health System.
Mansell quit after it was discovered that the order of the Republican candidates for lieutenant governor was incorrect on the May 20 primary ballot. Sebastian County Election Commission Chairman Lee Webb said Mansell was responsible for the correctness of the ballot.
The incorrect order was (District 96 state) Rep. Debra Hobbs, (2nd District U.S.) Congressman Tim Griffin (which appears on the ballotspelled Griffen) and (District 27 state) Rep. Andy Mayberry. The candidates dictate how they want their names to be listed on the ballot. The correct order is Mayberry, Hobbs and Griffin.
Web said some political experts say being listed first on the ballot can result in 2 percent to 5 percent more votes for a candidate. Ballot positions are drawn by lot to ensure impartiality, he said.
Webb said the ballots had been sent to the printers when the error was discovered on March 21 but had not been printed. He said election officials worked Saturday to make the correction, and the ballots were printed with the corrected lieutenant governor candidate order on Monday.
Griffin’s name on the ballot remained misspelled. Webb said it will not be changed because election officials approved the ballot in that form.
The election commission printed about 30,000 ballots in 324 combinations based on the different races and voting districts in Sebastian County, Webb said.
Mansell was hired to replace longtime election commission coordinator Jerry Huff, who at 70 had submitted his paperwork to retire.
Huff was staying on to train Mansell, Hudson said, for which the Quorum Court had appropriated $6,200. The election commission coordinator position, a part time job, pays $27,000 a year, Hudson said.
“I want to let people know the election coordinator position is open and we’re recruiting for it,” Hudson said.
Webb said it was Huff who detected the error in the lieutenant governor’s ballot position.
Huff will stay on until a permanent replacement is hired, Hudson said. He said he and the county’s human resources department were preparing to advertise the vacancy.
Mansell was among about 20 people who applied for the coordinator job, Webb said. The list was pared down to three finalists from which Hudson hired Mansell.
Webb said he was not impressed with the qualifications of the applicants. When asked about Mansell’s qualifications, Hudson said the average individual does not have a background in the election process.
Hudson said he hoped to “cooperate and collaborate” with the three-member election commission and with Sebastian County Clerk Sharon Brooks in the selection of Mansell’s replacement.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 9 on 03/28/2014