Several hundred Pulaski County voters whose absentee ballots were set aside because of missing photo ID copies or certain signatures will have until midday Monday to fix or "cure" their ballots so they can be counted.
The voters may have been contacted by county election officials by phone, email or mailed letters. They can find their names on a list posted by a nonprofit group assisting in the effort, For AR People. The website is www.forarpeople.org.
Election officials have asked these voters to take ID to the Spring Street side of the Pulaski County courthouse from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. today or 8 a.m. to noon Monday, according to a news release issued Friday by Pulaski Circuit/County Clerk Terri Hollingsworth. A tent has been set up to process their information as they drive through.
The 636 absentee ballots requiring this fix are among up to 5,000 still uncounted in Pulaski County that could add to 167,450 ballots that had been tallied countywide as of Friday evening, according to Pulaski Election commissioner Joshua Price.
"This is all part of the process, and this is actually the normal timeline," Price said. "We have to be patient, and we have to follow the law and the process."
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It's not clear how many of the yet-uncounted votes would factor into close races. A few dozen votes separated two state house races in Pulaski County as of Friday evening.
Democrat Matthew Stallings trailed state Rep. Carlton Wing, R-North Little Rock, by 81 votes in House District 38, according to the latest unofficial results. Across the Arkansas River, state Rep. Jim Sorvillo, R-Little Rock, led Democrat Ashley Hudson by 66 votes.
Though more than 600 voters would need to appear at the county courthouse by noon Monday to "cure" their ballots, no action is required by the remaining majority whose several thousand ballots haven't been processed, Price said. The unprocessed ballots largely fall into three types of votes:
• The 636 absentee ballots -- as of Friday morning -- that required a "cure." These ballots are from voters who neither submitted a copy of their ID nor signed a form verifying their identity.
The Pulaski County Election Commission reached out to these voters, but in some cases a mailing address was the only known point of contact -- even as the Monday deadline looms.
For AR People, a nonprofit organization formed this year, has worked to "supplement" those efforts, Price said.
The group published a list of voters who need to cure their absentee ballots online at www.forarpeople.org.
Austin Bailey, a For AR People spokeswoman, said approximately 80 of these absentee voters "cured" their ballots on Friday outside the county courthouse, where volunteers worked near a green tent.
Volunteers with the nonprofit acted as "runners" to assist people who fixed their ballot -- turning over their identification for a photocopy and signing a form -- without even leaving their vehicle, Bailey said.
"It's like Sonic over here," Bailey said, referencing the drive-in fast-food chain.
• More than than 2,600 provisional ballots were cast in person during the early voting period or on Election Day. Reasons for these provisional ballots include voters who did not appear in the registration database or who have recently changed their address.
The Election Commission will rely on the Pulaski Circuit/County Clerk's office's recommendation on which of these votes to count or discard based whether the clerk was able to confirm voter registration information or addresses, Price said.
• Fewer than 2,000 provisional absentee ballots, for which voters did not provide a copy of their identification but signed forms verifying their identities, were submitted. These ballots will be counted, Price said.
All told, more than 25,000 Pulaski County voters submitted absentee ballots this cycle -- a more than six-fold increase from 2016 as people this year wanted to avoid crowded polling places amid the covid-19 pandemic, officials said. As of Friday, more than 21,000 of those ballots had been counted, according to unofficial results.
The number of absentee ballots returned statewide by voters was not immediately available Friday afternoon, according to a spokesman with the Secretary of State's office. How many were counted and rejected won't be available until after counties certify their results.
In Pulaski County, the deluge of absentee ballots intensified the effort to make sure voters had an opportunity to "cure" incomplete absentee ballots, Hollingsworth said.
"The process is definitely a little more intense because of the amount of absentees that we were overwhelmed with this particular election," Hollingsworth said.
Voters can fix their ballots at the Pulaski County Courthouse located at 401 W. Markham St. They should take ID to the Spring Street side of the Pulaski County courthouse today or Monday and look for a green tent.