Recount ordered in Benton County

BENTONVILLE -- Benton County's Election Commission decided late Wednesday to recount ballots today from Tuesday's Republican primary. One race for the state House was won Tuesday by three votes and another by 12 out of 4,013 votes in those races.

Both commission chairman Russ Anzalone and election coordinator Kim Dennison confirmed the recount decision late Wednesday. Candidates who are dissatisfied with the recount results will have until 4:30 p.m. today to ask for another recount, Dennison said, but that will be at the candidate's expense unless such a new recount changes the results.

"If you don't think your vote's important, I beg to differ," Rep. Jana Della Rosa said Wednesday. As of that day, she led opponent Kendon Underwood by three votes in the state House District 90 race. Fellow incumbent Rep. Dan Douglas led primary opponent Scott Richardson by 12 votes.

In another legislative matter, the only contested state Senate primary touching either Benton or Washington county was not close. State Rep. Bob Ballinger of Hindsville defeated the re-election bid of incumbent Bryan B. King of Green Forest in the state Senate District 5 Republican primary. Ballinger won with more than 52 percent of the vote and will go on to face Democrat Jim Wallace and Libertarian Lee Evans in November.

There's one provisional ballot left uncounted in the District 90 House race, Dennison confirmed Wednesday afternoon. Even if that voter picked Underwood, that would not be enough by itself to change the election. The provisional ballot in Della Rosa's race was held over a lack of required photo ID, a new requirement this election year, election officials said.

Underwood didn't return calls asking for comment Wednesday. Della Rosa seeks her third term. The District 90 state House race showed final results of 1,068 votes for Della Rosa and 1,065 for Underwood. The winner will face Democratic nominee Kati McFarland in the Nov. 6 general election.

The winner of the House District 91 race will face no partisan opposition in the fall. As of Wednesday, Douglas led Richardson 946 to 934. Two ballots left uncounted Wednesday in that race were absentee ballots still coming in from overseas by either military personnel or federal employees stationed out of the county, according to Election Commission staff. No provisional ballots are left in the District 91 race, according to Dennison.

"Whether it's one, 12 or 1,200, the result is the same," Douglas said about his margin over Richardson. Douglas, a three-term incumbent, credited his opponent for how he "really, really, really worked" and attributed the slim margin largely to that.

"I think he knocked every door in the district two or three times," Douglas said of Richardson. Richardson said Wednesday afternoon he would make a statement soon.

Both Della Rosa and Douglas cited the county's light turnout of 12 percent in Tuesday's primaries as a factor in the closeness of their races. Statewide voter turnout was more than 18 percent, according to figures from the secretary of state.

"The people who are pretty happy with their state government didn't come out and vote for change," Douglas said. "The people who aren't satisfied did." Both Underwood and Richardson are first-time candidates who campaigned on the issue that their opponents were not as conservative as the voters in each district.

Della Rosa also said she would have lost this race if her most dedicated voters hadn't turned out even though they thought she was going to win. "Every hard-core supporter I have is absolutely convinced he or she and two people they know are those three voters," she said.

"I am extraordinarily grateful for every vote I got," Della Rosa said.

The county didn't have a competitive sheriff's race, any county judge's race or any other highly anticipated race to bring out voters, Della Rosa said. "We had a governor's race, but this is Benton County; Asa's going to win," Della Rosa said. Gov. Asa Hutchinson is the first Benton County native to be elected Arkansas governor, and he's running for a second term. The only previous governor to come from Benton County moved there as an adult.

None of the candidates will have to pay for the commission's voluntary recount. Any candidate demanding another recount in his race would have to pay up front at 25 cents per ballot cast in his race, but would receive a refund if the recount changed the primary's result. There is a cap of $2,500 on how much a candidate can be charged but the expense of neither the District 90 nor District 91 race would approach that amount. A District 90 recount would cost $533.25 and the District 91 race would cost $470, according to figures provided by the election commission.

Any recount would have to take place before the commission's deadline to certify election results. The deadline in this case is June 1, according to information provided by the commission.

Any candidate asking for a recount must present his request in writing under Arkansas law. Only one recount per candidate per election can be requested by the candidates, under the provisions of the law.

NW News on 05/24/2018