More than 217,000 Arkansans cast ballots in first week of early voting, state elections officials say

Arkansas election officials say citizen turnout for early voting in most counties is well ahead of the 2012 presidential race.

According to preliminary data from Secretary of State Mark Martin’s office, 217,210 Arkansas voters cast their ballots in the first week of early voting that began on Monday and ended Friday (Oct. 28) at 4 p.m. Of that total, more than 15,000 absentee votes were also reported ahead of Tuesday deadline for mail-in ballots.

County clerks in more than a dozen Arkansas counties, including three with the most residents, told Talk Business & Politics they were seeing higher turnouts in the first five days of voting. Early voting sites in many locations across the state will also be open this weekend, officials said.

Pulaski County Clerk Larry Crane said the nine early voting sites in the state’s largest county are seeing strong interest for this year’s election.

“We are busy. We are seeing a lot of very positive action at the poll and a lot of interested people,” Crane said. “If they are waiting in line, they are talking with other people and getting involved in what they are about to do.”

The top Pulaski County election official also said voters in Little Rock and surrounding areas have taken advantage of going online and printing off the ballot for their local precinct. Crane is also encouraging registered voters, if possible, not to wait until Nov. 8 to cast their ballots.

“I am strong supporter of early voting; it is just more convenient. If you can go in and get it done early, the election will be easier for everyone – us included,” he said.

EARLY VOTING NUMBERS
In Pulaski County, election officials said 25,815 early votes were cast as of 6 p.m. on Thursday, bringing the total number of ballots to 28,036 at nine voting precincts. There was also a total of 2,221 absentee votes cast in the state’s largest county and political center.

In northwest Arkansas’ Benton County, the second-largest county by total residents, some 25,300 early votes had been cast between Monday and around 10 a.m. Friday. By comparison, during the first two days in 2012 there were 5,800 early voters in Benton County. The first two days of this early voting cycle saw 11,500 early voters, said Dana Caler of the Benton County Clerk’s office.

“So we have almost doubled what we did then (in 2012). … But everything has been smooth so far, just very busy,” Caler said.

Neighboring Washington County is also on track to possibly double the early voting numbers compared to the 2012 presidential election cycle. Jennifer Price, Washington County’s election coordinator, said there were 15,990 votes as of early Friday morning. For the entire early voting period in 2012 there were 17,907 early votes.

“Yes, it’s looking like we could double that,” Price said.

In Sebastian and Craighead counties, the 4th and 7th largest counties, respectively, elections officials were also predicting early voter participation would easily surpass the 2012 turnout in the Fort Smith and Jonesboro metropolitan areas and surrounding communities.

Sebastian County Clerk Sharon Brooks said the first week of early voting at five precincts in Fort Smith and surrounding communities is well ahead of the 2012 presidential election, when 17,861 citizens cast early ballots. As of Friday afternoon, more than 12,000 early votes had been cast with another week of early voting ahead.

“The second week is when normally more people come out because they want to vote before the election,” Brooks said.

Brooks also said officials there have expanded the number of early voting sites from three to five.

Elections officials in Northeast Arkansas are also busy. At least 8,500 voters have cast ballots as of 4 p.m. on Friday, Craighead County Clerk Kade Holliday told Talk Business & Politics. Kade did not have comparative numbers for the 2012 election.

“It has been astronomical … there’s always a line,” Holliday said. “It’s good to see so many people casting votes.”

The lines have been steady since voting began Monday morning, Holliday said. Despite the heavy traffic, the voting machines have worked smoothly and no voting problems have been reported. Wait times have varied from a couple of minutes to almost 15 minutes, but no one has complained, he said.

Across the U.S., states offer three ways – early, absentee or mail-in voting – for Americans to cast a ballot before election day on Nov. 8. According to data compiled by the United States Elections Project and the Associated Press, more than 18 million votes had already been cast nationwide as of Friday.

RECORD VOTER REGISTRATION FOR ‘HIGH-RISK’ ELECTION
In the week ahead of early voting, the Secretary of State’s office reported a record 1,754,243 Arkansas citizens had registered for the November president election pitting Republican candidate Donald Trump against the Democratic Party challenger Hillary Clinton in the race to the White House.

That tally of registered voters compares to 1,690,577 ahead of the 2012 election and 1,684,240 in 2008, when President Barack Obama won his first term against Republican candidate John McCain. In that election, a record 1,086,617 voters or 64.52% of the electorate participated in the Democratic process, a number which the Secretary of State office expects to surpass this election season.

Heather Yates, assistant professor of political science at the University of Central Arkansas, said the brisk early voting across Arkansas and the U.S. suggests American voters are anxious nationwide about the upcoming presidential election.

“The tone and tenure of this election has piqued people’s interest. The high turnout suggest voters are anxious and feel this is a high-risk election and there is a lot on the line, both ideologically and pragmatically,” said Yates, author of “The Politics of Emotions, Candidates and Choices.”

Although political analysts said early in the election cycle the “high-negatives” of both Clinton and Trump might suppress voter turnout, Yates discounted those views.

“I heard those (predictions), but honestly, I was incredulous about those reports,” Yates said. “Even with the high negatives, this election is also bringing out voters who still plan to vote for ‘the lesser of two evils.’ “

BALLOT CHANGES
Meanwhile, state and county election officials say they’ve not encountered any major problems with three referendums being removed from Arkansas ballots by the state Supreme Court in the past three weeks.

On Oct. 13, the Arkansas high court pulled a proposal that would have allowed casino operations in three Arkansas counties. Issue 5 proposed to create a constitutional amendment authorizing the building of one casino each in Washington, Miller and Boone Counties. The casinos would be required to pay the state 18% of their net and would pay 1.5% to the city where they are located and 0.5% to their local counties.

On Thursday, the Arkansas Supreme Court in a 5-2 opinion also disqualified the Arkansas Medical Cannabis Act – Issue 7 – from the November ballot, with the majority opinion saying the act sponsors “failed to meet the constitutional requirements” related to the signature gathering process.

Crane said there has been some concerns from voters about referendums being taken off taken off the ballot at such a late date by the Arkansas Supreme Court, but that has not hindered or delayed the voting process.

“We’ve hear of some grumbling, mostly online, but nothing real serious. People wanted to vote on those issues, but I think they understand,” he said.

Prior to the high court decision, voters across the state were set to decide on two medical marijuana proposals. The Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment (Issue 6) would change the Constitution to allow for-profit dispensaries to provide marijuana to qualifying patients. Issue 7 would use non-profit dispensaries and, unlike the proposed amendment, allow patients living at least 20 miles from a dispensary to grow their own plants.

Issue 4, which addressed tort reform, was also removed from the ballot.

Talk Business & Politics reporters George Jared and Michael Tilley contributed to this report.