Partisan vote overseers a worry for House panel

State officials are looking to create procedures to take actions against county election commissioners who violate state laws that prohibit any form of partisan electioneering.

County election commissioners "shall not participate in the campaign of any candidate" or "display candidate placards or signs on an automobile," according to Arkansas Code Ann. 7-4-109, which was amended by Act 1253 of 2015. But members of the House Committee on State Agencies and Government Affairs, who discussed the issue Friday morning, expressed seeing violations firsthand.

"One of my local election commissioners actively campaigned for a congressional candidate to the point of wearing a T-shirt, handing out literature in the park, staffing a booth and actually hosted a fundraiser for my opponent in the last election -- all of which are prohibited by state law," said committee Chairman Nate Bell, I-Mena.

Bell said that in 2014, Polk County Election Commissioner David Ray openly campaigned for Bell's opposition in District 20. A formal complaint was filed with the Polk County prosecuting attorney, but no action was taken.

"He openly admits that he did that, but yet the prosecutor won't file a petition to remove him," Bell said. "Interestingly enough, the prosecutor is, in fact, the husband of the niece of that congressional candidate."

The discussion Friday centered around what committee members described as a conflict of interests: County prosecutors have the sole authority to forcibly remove an election commissioner without a political party's consent, yet prosecutors also serve as the legal advisers to their respective county election commissions.

"In this particular instance, every prosecutor in the state would have a conflict if they're the local advising consent to the election commissioners. They're automatically going to have a conflict in prosecuting them," said state Rep. Jim Dotson, R-Bentonville.

A county election commission is composed of two members elected by the county committee of the majority party, and one member elected by the county committee of the minority party. Commissions are tasked with managing several local election duties, including appointing election officials, establishing poll sites, and certifying election results.

The State Board of Election Commissioners, which is charged with ensuring fair and orderly election procedures in the state, oversees all of the state's 75 county election committees. The state board, however, does not have the authority to remove commissioners if the board determines they violated state law. The board can only refer violations to prosecutors.

Stuart Soffer testified before the House Committee on Friday as both a Jefferson County election commissioner and a member of the state board. During the last election cycle, Soffer said the board received 82 complaints, 12 of which were referred to proper authorities.

"In two or three other counties where an election commissioner was violating their oath -- hosting fundraisers, writing partisan articles for papers in November -- complaints were made to the prosecutors, but nothing was done, no prosecutions, nothing," Soffer said. "Last legislative session I came of the opinion that the state board was a paper tiger."

Questions over Soffer's own qualifications as an election commissioner came up last week. Members of Pine Bluff's Democratic party filed a complaint to the state board regarding an online post Soffer published that they perceived as "obstructing" Pine Bluff's mayoral election.

The board elected not to pursue an investigation into Soffer and dismissed the complaint, stating that Soffer's "alleged actions do not appear to rise to the level of participation" prohibited by state law.

Three bills in recent legislative session have attempted to address the integrity of county election commissions, yet none have passed, Bell said. According to the director of the state board, Justin Clay, the board has not considered any solutions.

Metro on 04/23/2016

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