BENTONVILLE -- Benton County election officials are preparing for the 2016 election year by adding precincts, working on voter registration rolls and waiting for a decision by the Secretary of State on new voting machines.
The county Election Commission voted last week to increase the number of voting precincts to keep the county in compliance with a recently enacted law that limits precincts to no more than 3,000 voters. The county has 73 precincts. Some of those exceed the 3,000 voter threshold and others are approaching it. The commission decided to cut the size of the largest precincts to about 2,000 voters to avoid annual changes.
Voting precincts
Benton County has changed the number and size of its voting precincts three times in the last five years. The county’s Election Commission reduced the number of precincts from 83 to 57 in 2010. After the Legislature adopted Act 1211 of 2013, which limits precincts to no more than 3,000 voters, the county increased the number of precincts from 57 to 73. With the county’s population growth, some precincts already have exceeded the 3,000 voter limit. The Election Commission is now looking to reduce the number of voters in each precinct to no more than 2,000, which will increase the number of precincts from 73 to 97.
Source: Benton County
"Lets give ourselves some breathing room," said Commissioner Robbyn Tumey."Take it down to 2,000."
Tiffany Underwood, who does mapping for the County Clerk's Office, said redrawing precinct boundaries will increase the number of precincts from 73 to about 97. The changes won't shift many voters' polling place since much of the work will be done by dividing the large precincts into smaller units and leaving the polling locations the same, she said. About 1,800 voters will have new polling places. Those voters will receive notices from the County Clerk's office once the work is done, she said.
The County Clerk's Office is sending out voter registration address confirmation notices to many voters, as the law requires. Tena O'Brien, county clerk, said notices have been sent to 37,548 inactive voters who did not cast a ballot in the most recent federal election cycle. Voters can remain registered by returning the cards or calling the Clerk's Office to confirm their information.
"In 2012 we had a presidential election and there were several ballot issues," O'Brien said. "A lot of people registered to vote for that election and didn't vote in the next."
Another 8,418 voters have been sent cancellation notices because they have not voted in the past two federal election cycles, O'Brien said. They will have to reregister If they do not return the cards, O'Brien said.
Russ Anzalone, Election Commission chairman, will brief the county's Committee of the Whole about the status for new voting machines when the panel meets Tuesday. Several justices of the peace have asked to be kept informed so the county can manage any costs that may be passed on by the state or additional costs the county will incur as part of the change.
Arkansas is looking to replace voting machines and systems now in use as they approach the end of their 10-year life span. The state uses voting machines and equipment from Election Systems & Software, one of the companies vying for Arkansas' business. A measure to appropriate $30 million for voting equipment was approved by the state Legislature, according to Mike Sevak, election commissioner. The Secretary of State's Office along with the state Board of Election Commissioners will make the decision on which voting machines will be used.
The county Election Commission voted last month to support the proposal by ES&S as the replacement for the current voting machines citing that company's history with the state. Anzalone will provide the justices of the peace with information on potential costs of ES&S and another voting machine vendor that presented proposals to the state. The cost of the ES&S voting machines, ballot counting machines and other equipment has been put at about $1.8 million. The cost of the Unisyn Voting Solutions voting machines and equipment would be about $1.1 million.
NW News on 04/12/2015