The state Board of Election Commissioners on Wednesday approved two requests for an election monitor to observe absentee-ballot processing and election-result reporting in Tuesday's primary election in Lonoke County.
With board Chairman A.J. Kelly abstaining, the other six commissioners approved the requests for an election monitor in Lonoke County from both Lonoke County clerk candidate Courtney Ruble and state Sen. Eddie Joe Williams, R-Cabot.
The board also rejected three other requests for an election monitor in Crittenden County.
Commissioner Chad W. Pekron said sending an election monitor to Lonoke County would be appropriate under circumstances detailed in the requests from Ruble and Williams.
Ruble is challenging the incumbent Dawn Porterfield for Lonoke County clerk in the Republican primary. Williams is being challenged by Lonoke County Justice of the Peace R.D. Hooper in Senate District 29, which includes parts of Faulkner, Lonoke, Pulaski and White counties.
Ruble cited three reasons to the state Board of Election Commissioners for seeking an election monitor.
In her written request dated Monday, Ruble noted that a Pulaski County circuit judge has ordered Porterfield to certify Ruble's filing to the Lonoke County Election Commission to be on the primary ballot, after Porterfield refused to do so due to "a very minor clerical error."
Ruble also wrote that "it has been brought to my attention by employees of the courthouse that Ms. Porterfield has been seen on multiple occasions in the election office, where absentee ballot processing occurs outside of normal business hours, with no other clerks or election commissioners present.
"I feel this is inappropriate and lends suspicion of election fraud," Ruble wrote in her request for an election monitor.
But Porterfield said in a telephone interview that "I don't know what she is talking about."
Whenever she is in the election office up until 6:15 p.m. or so, there also are two clerks in that office, she said.
"I am never in the office without someone," Porterfield said.
"I don't know who Ms. Ruble's witness is," she said. "I think she is trying to start trouble."
Ruble, who is a former probate clerk in the clerk's office, declined Wednesday night to disclose the identity of any witness.
"I don't feel comfortable releasing that information. It's just other employees at the courthouse," Ruble said.
Ruble said in her written request for an election monitor that the Lonoke County Election Commission has only one member with election experience "with the two other having never conducted an election."
"This lack of experience and the workload of a major election does not lend itself to a level of confidence that any possible election fraud will be detected, especially in the absentee balloting process," she wrote.
Porterfield said Chuck Eick is the Election Commission chairman and that the other two commissioners, Hugh Keller and Jim Bailey, are well-respected in the community.
Eick said he has election experience, Keller was on the commission years ago, and Bailey is the newest commissioner.
"Under the constitution, she has a right to her opinion," he said, referring to Ruble.
Eick said he provided training Tuesday night on the process of counting absentee ballots to the clerks who will process the absentee ballots and to Bailey, who will be supervising the counting of absentee ballots. He noted that he is a certified trainer by the state Board of Election Commissioners.
Williams said an election monitor is needed in Lonoke County as a result of the recent Pulaski County circuit court case involving Porterfield's not listing all the candidates on the ballot.
A Pulaski County circuit judge in December ruled that unopposed Magness Township constable candidate Nathanael House and Ruble will appear on the primary election ballot.
"A monitor will help alleviate any questions about any illegal activity," Williams wrote in his request dated Tuesday.
In other business, the state Board of Election Commissioners rejected three requests to send an election monitor to Crittenden County.
Crittenden County justice of the peace candidate Shabaka Afri'ka of West Memphis asked the board to send a monitor to four polling sites at West Memphis High School, The Eugene Woods Civic Center in West Memphis, a county office building in Marion and Marion City Hall.
"Many of us are very concerned about program manipulation of voting machine, absentee voter fraud as well as the too often misapplication of votes, " Afri'ka wrote.
Pekron said the requests for an election monitor from Crittenden County make "these general vague allegations that something bad might happen without any sort of real evidence other than something bad happened four or five years ago.
"I don't think [the request] meets the standard we've discussed before," he said.
Metro on 02/25/2016