Election commissioners' exchanges turn heated over reported remarks

Jefferson County Election Commissioner Stuart “Stu” Soffer prepares to record the commission meeting Thursday night, Sept. 10, 2020. Two Pine Bluff aldermen and a candidate for City Council were on hand at the meeting to raise objections to the closing of the New Town polling site in Ward 4. 
(Pine Bluff Commercial/Dale Ellis)
Jefferson County Election Commissioner Stuart “Stu” Soffer prepares to record the commission meeting Thursday night, Sept. 10, 2020. Two Pine Bluff aldermen and a candidate for City Council were on hand at the meeting to raise objections to the closing of the New Town polling site in Ward 4. (Pine Bluff Commercial/Dale Ellis)

The Jefferson County Election Commission, whose meetings often break out into arguments and occasionally vicious insults between commissioners, was the source of controversy again on Thursday night with the November general election less than two months away.

Just before adjournment, Commissioner Theodis "Ted" Davis addressed a controversy that had broken out over disparaging remarks Commissioner Stuart "Stu" Soffer was alleged to have made regarding Pulaski County Clerk Terri Hollingsworth on a blog administered by the Arkansas Times.

Those comments have prompted the chairman of the Democratic Party of Arkansas to call for Soffer's resignation.

"Over the past four days I have 22 emails from Pulaski County, Washington County, Crittenden, St. Francis, Desha, and the City of Texarkana," Davis said. "I have emails and texts about comments made about the Pulaski County Clerk referring to her as a b."

"I don't think we need to bring up disparaging remarks here," Chairman Michael Adam said, just before trying to gavel Davis into silence.

"My comment is that I find it to be despicable," Davis said.

"I find what you said to be despicable and to bring it up in this meeting is even worse," Adam said. "We are adjourned."

After a heated argument between Davis and Soffer, Davis exited the commission office.

"You, sir, are so full of horse s* it's unbelievable," Soffer called out as Davis left.

"Well, I think we all just went right down the toilet there," Adam said.

A decision made in February to close a polling site in New Town drew opposition at the meeting as Pine Bluff Ward 4 Council Members Steven Mays and Bruce Lockett objected to that site being closed. The New Town polling site was in Ward 4.

That polling site was used during the March 3 primary election, at which time 49 of approximately 300 registered voters in that area cast their ballots.

During the public comment section, Mays asked about the status of New Town, telling Adam that the people in that community depended on their polling site.

"You all are wrong for that because the people in that community are very upset with the Election Commission," Mays said. "That's in our ward and the people in that community are very upset because they can't cross the street to vote, they have to go out to Dollarway."

Mays said the timing of the closure had also created problems and confusion for the voters in New Town.

"This should have been done at the first of the year," he said. "Not at election time. That's just wrong."

Mays accused Adam and Soffer, the two Republican Party commissioners, of running over the voters and making decisions in a "coldhearted" manner.

Adam defended the commission's action on the grounds that too few voters used the site to make it viable to continue operating. He said all polling sites, which are open to voters from 7:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. on Election Day, require a minimum staffing level of five poll workers, all of whom are paid.

"We have several polling sites that have more than 10 times the number of voters who were at that poll site during the last election," Adam said. "We haven't voted to split those and those people drive a lot further than the people at New Town."

Adam pointed out that some polling sites out in the county had 500 or more voters during the primary.

"Really, if anything, we should do something for them because they have to drive a lot further," he said. "Plus, those sites are more crowded. We've got a lot of things we can do and really that one makes a lot less sense than any of the others."

Mays pointed out that many voters had voted early but that he had seen as many as 220 or 230 voters cast their ballots there in the past.

Davis spoke up, voicing his opinion that any action taken by the commission that inconvenienced voters in any area was tantamount to voter suppression.

"It is our position that we are inconveniencing a number of people as to where they traditionally vote," Davis said. "When you said that X number of people voted in the last election, well, that doesn't represent the number of people who are eligible to vote. I looked at some numbers the other day and that number was well in excess of 300 who are registered and eligible to vote at that particular site.

"You and Mr. Soffer made the call. I absolutely disagree with that and I see it as another effort toward what we call voter suppression," Davis said.

"You can call it voter suppression if that's what you want," Adam retorted. "I call it voter suppression that we don't have more polling sites out in the county."

Adam said the 49 voters who cast ballots at New Town in March, out of more than 300 registered, showed a ratio of about one out of six voters were using the site.

"There is nothing to show that more people than that will tend vote in this election," Adam said impatiently. "If anything, more will vote absentee or early. That's what the general consensus of most polls look like, so that's where we are. Commissioner Soffer has already said he will not entertain opening that polling site for this election so we are done, we are wasting time, and we have other things things to do."

"Why are we wasting time?" Davis asked.

"Because we are going over the same things that are not going to change," Adam replied.

"Well, I understand what Mr. Soffer said, but Mr. Soffer is not the determining factor," Davis said.

"Well, he's one vote and his vote makes a difference," Adam said. "In fact, it makes all the difference."

Council Member Lockett, who also opposed the closure of the New Town polling site, took a different tack.

"As long as we have the necessary funds, we can open as many polling sites as we want," Lockett said. "What I'd like to ascertain from [Jefferson County Judge Gerald Robinson], since he's here, if economics is an issue, would he be willing to open as many polling sites as might be needed in this election?

"The only issue I find with polling sites is economic," Lockett said, "and my question is, is there an economic issue with creating or sustaining polling sites in the whole city?"

Adam replied that there are economic considerations to consider when deciding where polling sites will be located and how many to open for an election.

"In addition to any of that, we have to have poll workers for those polling sites," he said. "We're already short and we're working as hard as we can to find poll workers."

Adam said voters must be notified of any change in polling locations that might affect them and said those notifications had gone out already. With less than two months to go until the General Election, he said, time had run out to make further changes.

In February, Soffer and Adam had voted to consolidate New Town into the polling site at St. Luke United Methodist Church if fewer than 100 registered voters used the site during the primary. By the same criteria, polling sites at Morning Star, the Pine Bluff School Administration Building, and New Hurricane were consolidated into nearby polling sites.

Closing or consolidating polling sites -- which by law requires a unanimous vote of the commission -- had long been opposed by Davis. However, following a dispute with Soffer, Davis had resigned his position in January and although he was reinstated the following month, the vote took place while Davis was not on the commission, making the decision by Soffer and Adam unanimous.

On Election Day, there are 38 polling sites throughout Jefferson County to accommodate the county's approximately 43,000 registered voters who are assigned to 171 precincts.

After about 20 minutes of debate, Adam declared the public comment period closed and moved on to the next agenda item.

After the meeting, Soffer and Adam acknowledged that they had voted on the precinct consolidation plan during the time Davis was off the commission, but both said it was not done under the table.

"We notified the Democratic Party leadership that we were considering poll consolidation and never got a response," Soffer said. "They never appointed a commissioner to come sit in on those discussions or to vote on the matter. The law says the vote has to be unanimous of all the commissioners to make a change in polling sites and the vote taken was a unanimous vote of all the commissioners on the Election Commission at that time."

In other business, commissioners unanimously approved Glenda Daniels of Pine Bluff, who was selected by the Democratic Central Committee of Jefferson County, to take the place of District 6 Justice of the Peace Herman Ginger on the November ballot.

Ginger, who died July 24 at the age of 78 of complications related to covid-19, won the Democratic Primary Election in March and faced no opposition in November.

Along with the approval of a supplemental appropriation for the November election and a draft budget submission for 2021, as well as approval of the paper ballot styles for November precinct verification, commissioners discussed preparations for the upcoming General Election along with plans to accomplish those preparation tasks, and they mapped out a plan to deliver personal protective equipment to the polling sites.

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