Early voting begins Monday in 73 runoff elections in 39 Arkansas counties, including 22 contests for mayors.
State election officials expect a low turnout for the Nov. 25 runoff, based on previous election statistics. About 4 percent of the state's 1,690,577 registered voters typically cast ballots in runoff elections, said Laura Labay, a spokesman for the Arkansas secretary of state.
All but three races feature municipal candidates -- an indication that more candidates filed for races, spreading the vote among them, Labay said.
The state's runoff law changed in 2011. Arkansas Code Annotated 7-5-106 requires candidates to receive a plurality of 40 percent of the votes cast with at least 20 percent more of the votes cast than the second-place candidate. Previously, candidates avoided runoffs by obtaining 50 percent of the vote, plus one additional vote over the second-place finisher.
"It's tough," said Blytheville Mayor James Sanders, who is in a runoff with challenger Tommy Abbott. "But the desire to be the mayor drives us and allows us to continue. I'll go back and take a look at my strategy and try and get the vote out."
Kenneth Anderson, the mayor of DeValls Bluff who is in a runoff election with John Thompson Jr., said he won't campaign for the remaining few weeks and will instead let his four years as the Prairie County town's mayor speak for him.
"I let that do my talking now," he said. "Your past speaks volumes for itself."
Voter turnout during the general election earlier this month was higher than normal for an election that didn't feature a presidential race, Labay said. In 2010, 47 percent of Arkansas' registered voters went to the polls. This year, 50 percent voted.
In 2012, the latest presidential election, 66.7 percent of Arkansas' registered voters cast ballots.
Benton County has the largest runoff ballot with seven races.
"That's probably not normal," Benton County Clerk Tena O'Brien said of the number of races. "I think it's higher because we had a lot more filings [by candidates] than in the past."
Most of the 39 counties have one or two races. Crawford, Crittenden, St. Francis and White counties each have four contested runoffs.
Two candidates -- incumbent Vickie Rice and Bob Gilliland -- are vying for a seat on the Hardy City Council. Although a majority of Hardy is in Sharp County, there is a sliver of the town in neighboring Fulton County.
During the Nov. 4 election, only 13 people living in the Fulton County portion of Hardy cast ballots in the race.
"I don't figure we'll have much of a problem Tuesday," Fulton County Deputy Clerk Jane Ivey said of tallying votes Nov. 25.
"People tend to forget there's a runoff," Prairie County Election Commission Chairman Harvey Joe Sanner said. "I expect the turnout will be lousy."
He said the two runoff elections in his county both take place in DeValls Bluff, where there are about 300 registered voters.
"Poll workers will have to bring a lot of crosswords to work on that day," he said.
State Desk on 11/16/2014