Voter turnout for Tuesday's primary and judicial elections was light throughout the day and marred only by temporary, somewhat routine glitches, a spot check of Arkansas counties showed.
Laura Labay, spokesman for Secretary of State Mark Martin, reported that all turnout reports through the day appeared to support the earlier projection of 20 percent voter participation.
"We don't have all the numbers in yet, so it is hard to judge for sure. It looks pretty close," Labay said.
As for problems, Labay said she was unaware of any significant problems hindering voters across the state.
"There's nothing out of the ordinary that you wouldn't ordinarily see on Election Day," Labay said.
In Garland County, Election Commission Chairman Ginna Watson said at midafternoon that three voting machine printers failed at different polling sites, making it necessary to call in a company representative to replace the printers.
"You can't vote," Watson said. "Arkansas requires a paper backup and when the printer goes down you don't have a paper backup. You can't vote on them without a printer."
There were at least two voting machine printers at each site, allowing voting to continue on one machine if the other needed attention, Watson said.
In Pulaski County, about 62 absentee ballots were tossed out because of incomplete, missing or conflicting information on the forms. That number was down from the 76 that were disqualified in the March 11 election, county Election Director Bryan Poe said.
About 13 absentee ballots "on the border" of being disqualified were taken before the Pulaski County Election Commission on Tuesday evening. Of those, the panel voted to toss 11 -- because of missing forms, signatures that didn't match or wrong birth dates -- and allow two.
Poe said Tuesday's primary was the "typical election day" experience, with minor glitches that included poll workers who didn't show up for their shifts and confusion about procedures.
"It doesn't run perfectly because it's run by people," Poe said.
Poe told the commission that a pastor at First Baptist Church in Jacksonville, a polling site, asked people to leave who were collecting signatures on a petition to allow statewide alcohol sales. Poe contacted state Board of Election Commissioners' attorney Tim Humphries, who said the ouster was legal. He based his advice on an Arkansas attorney general's opinion for a church to request petitioners to leave the private property for any reason.
The group was complying with the state law that requires that campaigners or petitioners be at least 100 feet away from the doors of a polling site, Poe said.
In Jefferson County, an election monitor sent by the state Board of Election Commissioners was watching the counting of absentee ballots, said Kitty Rubenstein, assistant to the Jefferson County election coordinator.
The monitor will ultimately report to the election board.
Stuart "Stu" Soffer, a White Hall Republican Party member of the three-member Jefferson County Election Commission, is also on the state Board of Election Commissioners. He recused from participating in the state board's decision Monday to assign that monitor to Jefferson County.
He said Tuesday that the monitor's presence was prompted at least in part by questions about the process that was used by the Jefferson County clerk to accept absentee ballots.
Soffer said absentee ballots were accepted from bearers and agents who did not sign a legally required oath when they returned the completed ballots. Additionally, there are missing dates and addresses on the paperwork with the ballots, he said.
Poll watchers are challenging all absentee ballots carried in by an agent to make them provisional and subject to a separate determination for counting, Soffer said. That group of votes can then be identified in the event of a lawsuit.
Soffer has filed a complaint with the Jefferson County prosecuting attorney about what he sees as problems with the absentee voting.
But Soffer also said Tuesday that he didn't expect any close races with outcomes that would hinge on an estimated 30 or so absentee votes in dispute.
In Crittenden County, Patricia Henderson, chairman of the Crittenden County Election Commission, had checked some polling sites and reported a hiccup or two with a few people who had trouble with the machines.
"It's going well," Henderson said at midafternoon. "It's kind of slow. There's not much turnout, but it's going well."
Election officials at the Lazy Acres polling site in Marion County didn't get their ballots to the ferry in time before it shut down for the night, said Marion County Clerk Dee Carlton.
Nearly 170 registered voters in that area will have their ballots counted today after the ferry over Bull Shoals Lake begins its morning service.
"I've been here for 33 years and this happens every year with Lazy Acres," Carlton said. "One year they held the ferry for them, but usually, if it's dark, they have to go ahead and shut it down."
Metro on 05/21/2014