Craighead County Election Commission closer to certifying primary vote

Craighead County Election Commission Chairman Jeannette Robertson said Monday (March 7) that the fate of two ballots cast by convicted felons will be decided at a meeting Friday (March 11) to certify the vote. The commission met around noon Monday to go over 11 provisional ballots from the March 1 party primary.

Of the 11, one ballot was cast at the wrong polling place, two votes were cast by convicted felons and the rest were done by people not registered to vote in Craighead County, election coordinator Jennifer Clack said. Robertson said the county has averaged at least one convicted felon voting in the past several elections.

According to state law, a convicted felon can have their voting rights restored if they complete parole or probation, pay all fines and court costs related to the conviction, have their record expunged by a circuit judge or receive a pardon from the governor. Once it is done, a person convicted of a felony can vote.
https://static.ark.org/eeuploads/pulaski/Felon_Restoration_of_Voting_Rights_Brochure.pdf

Clack said the pair were allowed to cast provisional ballots due to not having the paperwork, but noted that the votes would not be counted unless officials received paperwork showing the convictions were dispensed with. Robertson, who is also an attorney, said the expungement of records have become more common in recent years. Commissioner Scott Troutt said there is also a waiting period in most cases before voting rights can be restored, noting there is a five-year period for people convicted of felony drug crimes.

A letter will be sent to the two people with votes in question. Robertson said the pair can contest the decision made by commissioners on the issue.

The commission also released new vote totals Monday (March 7) for the March 1 primary, including the provisional ballots not including the two votes. They include:
President of the United States (Republican)
Ted Cruz – 4,202 (33.4%)
Donald Trump – 3,512 (27.9%)
Marco Rubio – 3,189 (25.4%)
Ben Carson – 872 (6.9%)
John Kasich – 482 (3.8%)
Mike Huckabee – 131 (1.0%)
Jeb Bush – 105 (0.8%)
Rand Paul – 29 (0.2%)
Chris Christie – 24 (0.2%)
Rick Santorum – 8 (0.06%)
Carly Fiorina – 6 (0.05%)
Lindsey Graham – 5 (0.04%)
Bobby Jindal – 3 (0.02%)

President of the United States (Democratic)
Hillary Clinton – 3,594 (64.0%)
Bernie Sanders – 1,883 (33.6%)
Martin O’Malley – 42 (0.8%)
John Wolfe – 40 (0.7%)
James Valentine – 38 (0.7%)
Roque De La Fuente – 12 (0.2%)

United States Senate (Republican)
John Boozman – 8,970 (76.5%)
Curtis Coleman – 2,760 (23.5%)

Craighead County Judge (Republican)
Jeff F. Presley – 5,553 (50.1%)
Garry Meadows – 5,530 (49.9%)

Craighead County Collector (Republican)
Wes Eddington – 6,379 (59.8%)
Andrew Stricklin – 4,284 (40.2%)

The vote will be certified at noon Friday (March 11) at the election annex on Jefferson Avenue in Jonesboro.