Committee assignments and seniority rankings in the Arkansas House of Representatives were put on hold Friday, as the fate of two House races continued to hang in the balance because of several dozen yet-to-be-counted votes.
The undecided races involve two incumbents, state Rep. Jim Sorvillo, R-Little Rock, and Rep. Carlton Wing, R-North Little Rock, whose narrow margins over Democratic opponents shrunk Thursday while the Pulaski County Election Commission continued its count of thousands of outstanding ballots.
As of the most recent count by the Election Commission on Friday, Sorvillo led Democrat Ashley Hudson by 66 votes, and Wing led Democrat Matthew Stallings by 81 votes.
With those races undecided, House Speaker Matthew Shepherd, R-El Dorado, told the 97 other members-elect of the House gathered for an organizational caucus Friday at the state Capitol that the caucus's duties would have to be delayed.
The caucus was originally scheduled for Friday under House rules adopted in 2018, Shepherd said.
Republicans are poised to hold onto their three-fifths supermajority in the House regardless of the outcome of either Pulaski County race, though Shepherd noted that the defeat of either incumbent could affect the House's seniority rankings, which determine committee and seat assignments.
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"We're still awaiting the final outcome, which we believe will occur early next week," Shepherd said. "This is not something I take lightly in putting it off, but when I look at the fact that the two members involved in that race are seniority No. 37 and No. 59, the outcome of that race, and if we were to go ahead and select today, would potentially affect seniority selection for a very significant number of the members."
Once a winner has been determined in both races, Shepherd said he will call the House back together to complete its organizational caucus.
Meanwhile, election workers at the Pulaski County Regional Building in Little Rock continued to tabulate absentee ballots and provisional ballots that were not counted on election night.
Pulaski County Election Commission Director Bryan Poe said Friday that the staff was still working to determine a rough estimate for how many ballots remain uncounted, and that a number would not be available until today.
Two of the commissioners, Kristi Stahr and Joshua Price, said the uncounted ballots included 2,464 provisional ballots cast in-person during early voting or on Election Day. Another 636 provisional ballots were cast by mail, but have deficiencies that need to be cured before noon Monday.
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Another batch of ballots includes those sent in without a copy of the voter's ID, but that included a signature swearing to the voter's identity. How many ballots that is has yet to be determined, the commissioners said.
After more than 1,000 ballots were processed and counted Thursday night and Friday, Sorvillo's and Wing's leads were cut by 38% and 25%, respectively, according to counts posted by the commission.
Frustrations with the ballot-counting process boiled over Friday night at a meeting of the Pulaski County Election Commission, when the two Republicans on the commission accused commission staff members of obstructing their duties.
The commissioners laid much of the blame on Assistant Director of Elections Shawn Camp, who they said had instructed the staff not to talk to the commissioners.
"At this point, Mr. Camp touching any ballots appears to be an issue," said Evelyn Gomez, a Republican who is chairman of the commission.
Republican Party of Arkansas Chairman Doyle Webb sent a cease-and-desist letter to the commission asking that they de-certify Camp from participating in the election.
Poe pleaded with the commission to take a less punitive measure and attempt to work out personal disputes after the election, noting that the commission's seven staffers still have thousands of provisional ballots to process before Monday, along with planning for a December runoff.
"It is a tremendous, tremendous task to organize an election," Poe said. "To do so without one of our staff would be devastating."
The commission -- which consists of two Republicans and one Democrat -- voted unanimously to bar Camp from handling any voted ballots for the remainder of the election but to allow him to continue doing other work.
Earlier Friday, both Stallings and Hudson expressed optimism that the remaining votes could flip the outcome in either race. Wing and Sorvillo said they were not ready to declare victory.
"Every time they add votes, the margin gets slimmer," Stallings said.
Wing, who chairs the House Management Committee, did not attend the organizational meeting Friday after members were informed that the business of the meeting would not go ahead as planned. Sorvillo did attend the session "out of courtesy" to the House, he said.
Also on Friday, the nonprofit group For AR People began working with the Pulaski County clerk's office to set up a drive-up tent on the Spring Street side of the county courthouse to assist voters who need to cure their provisional absentee ballots. The group has also published a list of names of several hundred voters whose ballots were flagged. That list is on its website, forarpeople.org.
Austin Bailey, a spokeswoman, said the group helped more than 70 people cure their ballots Friday, and that its tent would be open again today from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m., and on Monday from 8 a.m. until noon.
"The vast majority of those are first-time absentee voters," Bailey said of the flagged ballots. "It's not easy."
After its organizational caucus resumes with all of the members-elect, Shepherd said the House will hold an orientation for new members from Dec. 6-9.
The 93rd General Assembly is to convene for its regular legislative session on Jan. 11.