Law ends same person being on state, county commissions

Law ends same person being on state, county commissions

Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Thursday signed legislation that bars Arkansans from simultaneously serving as a member of the state Board of Election Commissioners and a county election commission.

Among other things, House Bill 2138 by Rep. Vivian Flowers, D-Pine Bluff, prohibits a member of the state Board of Election Commissioners or a county election commissioner from serving as a poll worker or a poll watcher on behalf of an individual candidate, political party or ballot initiative.

The Republican governor "sees this as good legislation," Hutchinson spokesman J.R. Davis said Thursday.

Republican Stu Soffer of White Hall, who serves on the state Board of Election Commissioners and on the Jefferson County Election Commission, said he plans to continue serving on both boards for now.

He said three attorneys, whom he consulted but didn't name, have advised him that because the bill isn't retroactive or have an emergency clause, he can continue serving on both boards until his two-year term on the Jefferson County commission ends in December 2018, when he may have to choose between serving on one of the boards. His four-year term on the state board expires in 2020, he said.

The bill becomes effective 90 days after the Legislature adjourns its regular session. With the Legislature expected to adjourn May 1, it would become law near the end of July.

"I am an incumbent, and I'm going to serve out both of my terms," Soffer said.

Flowers said that she doesn't care if Soffer continues to serve on both election boards for now and later resigns from one of them.

"I think how that is interpreted and addressed is up to the state Board of Election Commissioners," she said. "This is not about him. It is about clean and fair elections."

It's "a clear conflict of interest" for a member of the state board to also serve on a county election commission because "you can't police yourself."

Soffer said it's not a conflict of interest for him to serve on both boards, noting that two other members of the state board previously served simultaneously as county election commissioners.

The state board "needs more election commissioners -- not more lawyers," he said.

Asked whether Soffer needs to resign from the state election commissioner board or the Jefferson County commission when the bill becomes effective, state Republican Party Chairman Doyle Webb said that "that decision will be left up to him."

"I appreciate the work of Mr. Soffer and expect that he will continue to serve on the state Board of Election Commissioners," said Webb, who also is an attorney.

Soffer said Flowers "was acting at the behest" of the Jefferson County Democratic Central Committee with her legislation because "I stopped them from stealing elections." He served as a poll watcher for the state Republican Party to check on election machines during the 2016 general election.

A special judge ruled in a lawsuit last November that Soffer did not run afoul of a state law by serving as a poll watcher authorized by the state Republican Party. The lawsuit had been filed by Victor Johnson and then-Jefferson County Clerk Patricia Johnson, a Democrat, against Soffer, the Jefferson County Election Commission and the state Republican Party.

Flowers said Thursday that the provision to bar state Board of Election Commissioners from simultaneously serving on a county election commission resulted from her conversation with advocates of fair elections "well into the session" of the Arkansas General Assembly.

"If I wanted to get him, I would have pre-filed a bill" in advance of the regular session that started Jan. 9, Flowers said.

Flowers said she's glad that the Republican governor signed her bill, which was part of Republican Secretary of State Mark Martin's legislative package and won the votes of many Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate.

Republican Reps. Charlotte Douglas of Alma, Trevor Drown of Dover and Mark Lowery of Maumelle co-sponsored Flowers' legislation, along with Democratic Reps. Kenneth Ferguson of Pine Bluff and Warwick Sabin of Little Rock.

House Bill 2138 also requires a county board of election commissioners to promptly provide written notification to a voter if his vote, including an absentee vote or a provisional vote, isn't counted and the reason or reasons that it isn't counted.

The bill, which was approved by a 72-9 vote in the House and 31-3 in the Senate, also requires the secretary of state's office to develop, adopt and make available a standardized form for documentation required to be submitted by a person who is a resident of a long-term care facility or residential care facility.

Except as otherwise provided under federal law and Amendment 51 of the Arkansas Constitution, the bill also requires county clerks to send written notification to a person when he registers to vote for the first time, when his voter registration becomes inactive and when he's removed or purged from a voter registration list, and give a person removed or purged from the voter registration list 30 days to challenge the removal from the list.

Metro on 04/07/2017

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