Vote to shutter 7 polling places errant, AG says

Opinion faults election panel

The Sebastian County Election Commission erred when it closed seven polling places before the May 20 primary election, according to an opinion from Attorney General Dustin McDaniel.

Whether those seven polling places will be reopened for the Nov. 4 general election is still being debated.

In the opinion issued Friday, McDaniel stated that the motion to close the polling places required a unanimous vote of the county's Election Commission.

During a regular meeting Feb. 27, one of the county's three election commissioners, David Damron, voted against the motion to close the polling places. Damron is the lone Republican on the commission.

"Designation" of polling sites requires a unanimous vote of the commission under Arkansas Code Annotated 7-5-101(a)(2), according to the opinion prepared by Assistant Attorney General J.M. Barker and approved by McDaniel.

"In my opinion, the motion included 'designations,' required unanimity, so was not lawfully adopted," according to the attorney general.

Lee Webb, chairman of the Sebastian County Election Commission, said the commission didn't designate any new polling places. Seven polling places were closed, and voters who had previously cast ballots at those sites were assigned to different polling places instead, he said.

But the attorney general disagreed.

"Any alteration in a precinct's pre-existing polling site involves, in my view, the 'designation' of a new site for that precinct, and the unanimity rule therefore applies," according to the opinion.

Donald Cook of Bloomer filed a complaint June 18 with the county clerk saying the polling places were closed in violation of the state law.

State Rep. Charlotte Douglas, R-Alma, said people who live in the small community of Bloomer, in particular, were disenfranchised by the commission's Feb. 27 decision. Bloomer is just north of Fort Chaffee on Arkansas 22.

Closing the polling site at Bloomer Baptist Church meant some people had a 26-mile round trip to vote at Union Baptist Church in Lavaca, said Douglas.

"It's not on the way to anywhere," she said of the Lavaca polling place. "Why would they want to change it to such a remote place if they were trying to be an advocate for people voting?"

Besides Bloomer, the polling places closed were Westark Church of Christ, Haven Heights Baptist Church, New Providence Baptist Church, Sacred Heart and Faith Baptist Church.

Consolidating the polling places from 43 to 36 saves the county about $12,000 per election, Webb said. The county has 107 voting precincts.

Webb said he wants to have another vote of the commission before local elections scheduled for Aug. 12. Since two elections -- the May 20 primary and June 10 runoff -- have been held with the current polling places, Webb said he believes all three commissioners will agree to keep the seven sites closed.

"It seems like the best way to do it is bite the bullet and get that unanimous decision and move on," he said.

But Damron said he's not convinced.

"I don't believe they should automatically be closed and kept closed," he said of the seven polling places. "If there's a need for polling places to be open, I think we should consider that."

Laura Labay, a spokesman for Secretary of State Mark Martin, said the office believes the Sebastian County Election Commission needs to reopen the seven closed polling places for the Nov. 4 general election.

"We think it's appropriate to go back to their polling sites because the change they made was not lawfully adopted," said Labay. "But ultimately it's up to the Sebastian County Election Commission to decide that."

Sen. Bryan King, R-Green Forest, said he believes the county commission made a mistake and should reopen the polling sites.

"The reality is what they did was wrong," said King. "If they don't try to correct it, it could wind up in more problems. ... I called Mr. Webb and told him several times I thought he was wrong."

Dan Shue, the Sebastian County prosecutor, sent out a news release Tuesday saying he requested the attorney general's opinion because he had concerns about future elections. Shue said he believed the May 20 primary results were valid and McDaniel's opinion confirmed that.

On June 19, the Sebastian County Election Commission received notice that a complaint had been filed with the state Board of Election Commissioners, according to Shue's news release.

Webb said the complaint filed with the state board was also from Donald Cook. Tim Humphries, legal counsel for the state board, said he couldn't reveal any information about the complaint.

On June 24, the Sebastian County election commissioners received a letter from Justin Clay, director of the state board, saying the matter was under investigation. Clay asked the county commissioners to provide certain information by Aug. 11.

Metro on 07/30/2014

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