State's early voting starts; first-day lines keep election workers busy

Voters make their choices Monday during the start of early voting at the Laman Library in North Little Rock. Some counties reported that the number of voters Monday exceeded the number who cast ballots on the fi rst day of early voting in 2012, the previous presidential election.
Voters make their choices Monday during the start of early voting at the Laman Library in North Little Rock. Some counties reported that the number of voters Monday exceeded the number who cast ballots on the fi rst day of early voting in 2012, the previous presidential election.

More than 22,000 Arkansans cast ballots Monday on the first day of early voting, the secretary of state's office reported.

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Vickie Taylor (from right), Ruby Coosenberry, Helen Brummett and Sandra Hyatt wait in line Monday before the start of early voting at the Laman Library in North Little Rock. The women arrived more than two hours early to get the fi rst four spots in line.


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Some people had to wait in line, and some counties reported totals exceeding numbers from the previous presidential election, in 2012.

Chris Powell, a spokesman for Republican Secretary of State Mark Martin, said 22,895 votes were reported as of 4 p.m. Monday from about two-thirds of the state's 75 counties. Polls closed at 6 p.m. Additional figures from the counties on the votes cast on Monday will be available this morning, he said.

There were about 29,000 ballots cast on the first day of early voting in 2012, "so it looks like we are on pace to surpass that," Powell said.

Some voters in Pulaski County ended up waiting in line longer than they otherwise would have on a first day of early voting because of problems with Internet access on laptops used for checking voter registration information, as well as problems with some voting machines, said Bryan Poe, director of elections for the Pulaski County Election Commission.

Election officials working for Martin have estimated that about 70 percent of the state's 1.75 million registered voters will cast ballots in this year's general election. It would be the largest share of the state's registered voters to turn out to vote since 1992, when then-Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton was elected president and 72.13 percent of the registered voters cast ballots.

Early voting ends Nov. 7, the day before Election Day.

Bill Clinton's wife, Hillary Clinton, is the Democratic presidential nominee vying with Republican Donald Trump and six other presidential candidates on the ballot in Arkansas to succeed Democratic President Barack Obama. Clinton is a former U.S. secretary of state and U.S. senator from New York. Trump is a New York real estate mogul and reality TV star.

Construction worker Mark Bowers of Benton said he voted for Trump on Monday, though he added that "Donald Trump may not be worth 2 cents."

"But there is nothing good to say about Hillary. The world will be a lot worse with her in there," Bowers said after voting. "I don't trust her. ... I am one who believes she needs to be prosecuted" regarding emails on her private server when she was secretary of state.

But truck driver Fernando Woods of Little Rock said he has "heard enough about emails or women being touched," a reference to allegations against Trump.

Woods said he voted for Clinton on the basis of her character and her interest in looking out for everyone, children in particular.

"Right now, our country needs healing, and who can do that better than a mother? We need a lot of love," Woods said after voting.

Besides voting for president, Arkansans will decide who to elect to the U.S. Senate seat held by Republican John Boozman of Rogers, who is running for re-election. They also face decisions on four congressional seats, seats in the state Legislature, and local positions. Some voters also will decide a handful of judicial runoffs. They also will decide the fate of five ballot measures, including a proposed constitutional amendment and a proposed initiated act to allow the use medical marijuana recommended by doctors for their patients.

Pulaski County reported 6,140 votes cast on Monday, compared with 5,825 on the first day of early voting in 2012.

"All in all, it's been a super busy day," said Poe, of the Pulaski County Election Commission.

The lines of people waiting to cast their votes on the first day of early voting "would have moved a lot quicker had we not had the problems we had this morning" with laptops and voting machines, he said.

The laptops that election officials use to check voter registration information didn't connect to the wireless Internet at the Roosevelt Thompson Library, the Dee Brown Library and the Sue Cowan Williams Library, all in Little Rock. The commission used mobile hot spots to connect to cellular broadband to check voter registration information, Poe said.

Among other difficulties, three voting machines were replaced at the Dee Brown Library, and a few voting machines at the Jess Odom Community Center in Maumelle were fixed by a technician, he said.

"We've had people running all over the county," Poe said. "It's fairly typical of the first day. We always get it straightened out."

Saline County reported 3,119 votes cast Monday, compared with 1,860 on the first day of early voting in 2012.

"Hopefully we'll keep getting a record every hour. I'm tickled," said Saline County Clerk Doug Curtis.

Darlene Westbrook, election coordinator for the Saline County Election Commission, said, "We haven't had any problems at all."

In Benton County, about 5,500 votes were cast on the first day of early voting, compared with 2,782 in 2012, according to Dana Caler, election administrator for the Benton County Election Commission.

"We've just been extremely busy," said Kim Dennison, election coordinator for the Benton County commission.

Jennifer Price, election coordinator for the Washington County Election Commission, said 4,137 votes were cast Monday at six sites. In 2012, Washington County had two early-voting sites, she said, but she didn't have figures for how many votes were cast on the first day of voting in 2012.

Washington County election officials were "busy," she said. "The lines will be better during early voting than they will be on election day."

In Sebastian County, more than 2,100 votes were cast at five sites, said Melissa Brooks, an administrative assistant at the Sebastian County Election Commission. Figures on the votes cast on the first day of early voting in 2012 were not available, she said.

In Craighead County, about 1,670 people cast ballots, said Jennifer Clack, election coordinator for the Craighead County Election Commission. She said she didn't have figures about the ballots cast on the first day of early voting in 2012, when a total of 16,875 early votes were cast.

Jefferson County Election Commissioner Stu Soffer of White Hall reported that he saw several possible violations of voting law and one of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act when he visited the courthouse to observe and vote Monday morning. He recommended the commission address the concerns at the earliest chance with Jefferson County Clerk Patricia Johnson.

Soffer is a Republican. Johnson, a Democrat, could not be reached for comment by telephone Monday afternoon.

Keith Rutledge, director of the state Board of Election Commissioners, said the board had an election monitor in Jefferson County and that "we'll get a report on what the monitor had seen."

State House candidate Dorothy Hall, a Democrat from the Cross Roads community near Sheridan, requested that the state board send an election monitor to Jefferson County, citing previous election irregularities. She is challenging Rep. Mike Holcomb, a Republican from the Sulphur Springs community near Pine Bluff.

Meanwhile, Christopher Thyer, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, and Kenneth Elser, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, announced Monday that Assistant U.S. Attorneys Hunter Bridges and Denis Dean will lead the efforts of their offices in connection with the Justice Department's nationwide Election Day program.

"Every citizen must be able to vote without interference or discrimination and to have that vote counted without it being stolen because of fraud. The Department of Justice will act promptly and aggressively to protect the integrity of the election process," Thyer and Elser said in a written statement.

A Section on 10/25/2016

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