The Pulaski County clerk's office violated state election law when an error by a deputy clerk resulted in the wrong precinct being assigned to several voters, the state Board of Election Commissioners found Wednesday.
The commissioners opted Wednesday to issue a letter of warning to Pulaski Circuit/County Clerk Terri Hollingsworth. At a previous meeting, the board had opted to issue a letter of reprimand, a harsher sanction. Hollingsworth rejected that offer of settlement, leading to a hearing composed of several hours of testimony and cross-examination.
In November 2020, a west Little Rock couple were told they weren't on the polling roster when they went to vote at their polling precinct and instead needed to go to a North Little Rock precinct, despite living at the same west Little Rock address for more than two decades. An investigation by the commission stemming from their complaint found that the deputy clerk had inadvertently changed the precinct assignment for 22 addresses on one street, which could have affected up to nine voters who had not yet voted at the time the error was made.
At issue was whether the clerk's office violated Arkansas Code Annotated 7-5-110, which requires the county clerk to "prepare precinct voter registration lists that identify the district, subdistrict, county, municipality, ward, and school zone in which each voter is qualified to vote."
Attorneys for the clerk argued that the mistake did not amount to a violation of the voter registration law, and that the coronavirus pandemic should have been considered as a mitigating factor when imposing the sanction.
Testimony as well as documents from the commission showed that the error was made by a deputy clerk who did not have much experience working on elections, but was doing so because more than a dozen employees were out because of covid-19 quarantine protocols.
"There's no such thing as a perfect election. There never will be, although we strive for that. The fact of the matter is that will never happen as long as humans are in charge of the election process. Your own rules contemplate that and state law contemplates that," Khayyam Eddings, one of the lawyers, said.
Eddings described the error as "an errant and unintentional click of a computer mouse."
Chris Madison, legal counsel for the commission, said at the end of the day it's the clerk's responsibility to ensure that voter registration records are correct and to "protect every voter and their right to vote."
"Their office failed and it failed these voters," he said.
Arkansas Secretary of State John Thurston, who serves as the board's chairman, suggested issuing a letter of warning, noting that "bottom line, it's human error."
Board member Bilenda Harris-Ritter, who is the Republican Party's designee on the board, said she believed the letter of reprimand was appropriate because the mistake had shaken the voters' faith in the election process.
"I believe there was a violation of election law and it's very serious, and you can say, 'Oh, it was a mistake, they didn't mean to do it,' but they're charged with making sure that kind of mistake isn't made and they have to be responsible for that," Harris-Ritter said.
Board member James Harmon Smith, the Democratic Party's designee, disagreed, saying the board has always tried to work with clerks when mistakes are made.
"This board and the staff has always tried to reach out to the clerks and correct things and not be vindictive about stuff, and I think this is an opportunity ... for our education and our manuals to warn people about, that it can happen," he said.
The board ultimately voted 5-1 to find that the clerk had violated state law and 5-1 on deciding to issue a letter of warning. Smith was the dissenter in both votes.
Elizabeth Robben Murray, another attorney for the clerk, said she was pleased a letter of reprimand was not imposed and appreciated the commission's thorough discussion. She said Hollingsworth had rejected the initial offer of settlement because it appeared to imply an intentional violation of the law.
Hollingsworth has 30 days to appeal the decision in court.
