FAYETTEVILLE -- Election officials said Thursday some details of the Nov. 3 general election are still "fluid" and may not be settled until October.
The Washington County Election Commission discussed a list of polling places the county used in the March primary election and whether those same locations can be used in November.
Jennifer Price, election director, said 19 of the 40 polling places will be required to meet the provisions of state election laws. For the rest, Price said, she's reviewing the locations for size and layout to see if they can accommodate the social distancing guidelines adopted because of the covid-19 pandemic. Price said some sites may be too small or the entrances and exits and may not be able to have the voting machines set up in a way that keeps voters flowing through the site.
"So we've got 19 locations that will be open and other locations that may be closed because of staffing or other issues," Commissioner Bill Ackerman said.
[RELATED » Full coverage of elections in Arkansas » arkansasonline.com/elections/]
Another potential problem, Price said, is the number of poll workers needed to run that many locations. Price said she's losing poll workers and receiving new applications from people interested in becoming poll workers on a daily basis. Price said she had more than 350 poll workers early this year, before the pandemic, and about 70% of those have indicated they are interested in working for the November election. She said she needs the full number to adequately staff the full list of polling places through early voting and on Election Day. Early voting for the Nov. 3 election begins Oct. 19.
Commissioner Max Deitchler said the minimum number of poll workers at a location is four and larger locations with larger anticipated voter turnout will need more. Deitchler said the commission will need to discuss the polling locations in more detail as the election approaches.
"We've got to consider how we're losing poll workers as the election gets closer," he said.
Price told the commission she plans to approach the county's elected officials and see if any of their staff could serve as poll workers on Election Day. No county officials are on the ballot in November. The commission endorsed that idea and Renee Oelschlaeger, commission chairwoman, suggested Price also approach the larger cities and chambers of commerce about tapping into their various "leadership" programs as a potential source of poll workers.
Price said she wants to settle the question of polling places by mid-September so the information can be made available to voters. She said there are plans for a nationwide campaign, spearheaded by the Federal Election Commission and beginning in September, to recruit poll workers.
"It's not just Washington County that's having this issue," Price said. "It's everywhere."