PINE BLUFF -- Jefferson County will not seek to delay its March 31 primary runoff.
On Monday, the county's election commissioners decided to ask the prosecuting attorney to file a suit in circuit court in an effort to postpone the election until May 19 because of coronavirus concerns.
The next day, however, Prosecuting Attorney Kyle Hunter responded that the prudent course of action would be to forge ahead with preparations for the runoff rather than try to set a precedent by seeking the delay. There is no mechanism in state law to support a delay.
"I got the letter from the commission asking me to go forward," Hunter said Tuesday. "I sent them back a response today telling them my opinion is to follow the recommendation of the [State Board of Election Commissioners], and the governor's office, and that the legally prudent thing right now for Jefferson County is to follow that course of action and to prepare for an election on March 31."
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The election commissioners Monday advised officials in 12 counties to consider several strategies -- including absentee voting -- to mitigate any negative effects that the coronavirus may have on their runoffs.
These options include: consolidating polling sites; notifying voters that they can request an absentee ballot; refraining from using at-risk poll workers; and ensuring that poll workers take appropriate preventive measures, the board said in a letter to county clerks and boards of election commissioners.
Arkansas law doesn't allow a county board of election commissioners, the county clerk or county judge to unilaterally cancel or postpone in-person voting, the board's letter noted.
Secretary of State John Thurston, the board chairman, told the board that "to our knowledge, there is no provision giving at least the secretary of state or this board the authority to postpone the election."
Other states have postponed their elections because of the virus.
The board opted to advise the governor and attorney general that it has significant concerns about the danger that coronavirus poses to Arkansans participating in runoffs.
Hunter said in an interview that part of what drove his decision not to seek a delay is the fact that Jefferson County would have stood alone among the 12 counties that have runoffs.
"As of right now, they are all trying to have the election as it's scheduled, and you never know about issues that could arise because of doing something unprecedented," Hunter said. "I just think the prudent thing regarding the election is to go forward and have the election unless something is done statewide to affect all 12 counties. In my opinion it's better that the 12 counties proceed."
The other counties with runoffs March 31 are Arkansas, Benton, Conway, Craighead, Garland, Grant, Greene, Hot Spring, Logan, Saline and White.
In Jefferson County, there is a runoff race for District 13 between Jeff Edwards, 56, of Sherrill and incumbent Justice of the Peace Brenda Bishop Gaddy, 65, of Altheimer.
In Pine Bluff, there is a Ward 2 city council runoff race between Lloyd Franklin II, 40, and Steven Shaner, 43.
The Jefferson County election commissioners have approved guidelines for protective measures to be taken for poll workers, including keeping them separated from voters by at least 6 feet, asking poll workers and voters not to bring children to the polls, providing rubber gloves for poll workers and alcohol wipes to disinfect voting machines between voters.
Jefferson County officials aren't alone in being concerned about the effect the virus may have on elections. Clerks in several counties said they're proceeding carefully, encouraging as many voters as possible to utilize absentee ballots.
In Benton County, County Clerk Betsy Harrell said she expects to see a significant uptick in absentee ballot requests.
"If we have to have a pajama pizza party to prepare ballots all night, we will," she said.
Craighead County Clerk Kade Holliday said election workers will be even more diligent about cleaning during the runoff.
He said he's very concerned about the coronavirus' impact on the election, and last week he sent a letter imploring Gov. Asa Hutchinson to take action to delay the runoffs or enable counties to conduct them solely by mail.
Concerns about the virus have prompted Missouri's governor to push back local elections for two months.
Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland and Ohio have postponed their presidential primary elections.
Information for this article was contributed by Hunter Field of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, The Associated Press and The New York Times.
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