Election Commission sets school ballot spots

BENTONVILLE -- The placement of candidates on ballots for the Sept. 15 school election drew little interest Wednesday with just one candidate attending the ballot draw in person.

The Benton County Election Commission held the ballot draw for the school election at a special meeting Wednesday night, as required by state law. Loyd Smith, candidate for the Zone 4 seat on the Decatur School Board attended the meeting.

"I'm new at this," Smith said "I just wanted to see how it all works."

Smith was allowed to draw for his own spot on the ballot and drew a 2, giving him the second spot on the ballot. Darleen Holly will appear first on the ballot for that position. In the three other contested races, members of the commission drew for the ballot positions.

In the race for the Zone 1 seat in Bentonville, Rebecca S. Powers will be listed first on the ballot and Eowyn Francis-Moore will be listed second. In the race for the Zone 3 seat on the Gentry School Board, Nikki Rayburn-Still will be listed first and Clarence Kreger will be second. In the contest for the Zone 5 seat on the Rogers School Board, Dulce Aguirre will be listed first and Paige Sultemeier will be listed second.

The Commission also agreed the ballot draw for the Oct. 13, 2015, special primary election in Siloam Springs will be held Aug. 6, 2015, and the ballot draw for the March 1, 2016, preferential primary and nonpartisan election will be held Dec. 2, 2015.

The Election Commission also approved precinct boundary changes at Wednesday's meeting. State law limits the size of precincts to 3,000 or fewer registered voters. Benton County had some precincts near the limit at the last election, with others growing rapidly, and expected some might exceed the threshold before the 2016 election. the new boundaries will go into effect on Sept. 16, 2015.

Benton County has redrawn precinct boundaries several times in recent year, reducing the number of precincts from 83 to 57 in 2011. before increasing the number of precincts to 73 in 2014. This year's redrawing of boundary lines takes the number of precincts from 73 to 94.

The changes in precinct boundaries don't require new polling places, according to Kim Dennison election coordinator. The county is changing some polling locations due scheduling conflicts with the entities that have volunteered the use of their facilities in the past. At Wednesday's meeting the Commission approved new polling locations for four precincts -- 23, 30, 63 and 67 -- and an address change for one precinct, located at the Bentonville Church of Christ Activity Center, to reflect a change in the 9-1-1 address for the location.

NW News on 07/09/2015

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