Staffers who kept early voting going in the snowbound Washington County Courthouse took in seven ballots Thursday, compared with 110 the day before in the last day of clear weather, county election figures show.
Election officials, the county clerk's office and the county sheriff's office coordinated to have sheriff's deputies drive three of the clerk's office staffers to the courthouse to continue early voting for anyone who showed up, according to Washington County election director Jennifer Price.
The first two voters showed up about 10:30 a.m. to participate in one of the two special elections, Price said. Election day is Tuesday.
"If the deputies and the clerks have to be there, we figured they deserved a snow day vote or two," Will Watson of Fayetteville posted on social media after voting along with George Shelton, also of Fayetteville. The two rode together over the ice in Shelton's vehicle, according to the post.
Early voting began Tuesday in one race for state Senate and one for a Fayetteville City Council seat. State Senate District 7, which includes Springdale and Elkins, has a special election between Republican Colby Fulfer and Democrat Lisa Parks. That election will fill the vacancy left when Lance Eads, a Republican from Springdale, resigned to take a consulting job.
Early voting is also underway in a special election to fill a vacancy on the Fayetteville City Council. Leslie Belden, Kristen Scott and Mike Wiederkehr are running for the Ward 2 position left open after Matthew Petty resigned in October, citing professional work obligations. If necessary, a runoff election will be held in that contest on March 8.
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As of Thursday, 274 people had voted early in the state Senate race, and 93 people had voted in the Fayetteville election. The Senate district has about 45,000 registered voters, and Ward 2 in Fayetteville has about 12,200 registered voters.
Fulfer's and Parks' campaigns called off door-knocking by volunteers scheduled for this week and hope to resume Saturday, weather permitting. Both said in telephone interviews that campaign volunteers called voters by phone instead Thursday and plan to do so again today. Volunteers can safely do this from home, Parks said.
What effect, if any, this weather will have on voter turnout remains to be seen, both candidates said.
"I think people who early vote are pretty insistent on voting," Fulfer said. "If they can't vote today or tomorrow, then we'll see them on Tuesday. They take pride in voting."
Belden said she was glad the courthouse is in Ward 2. That way, a few people could walk there and vote early, she said. For the people who do vote this week amid the snow, it shows their dedication to the process, she said.
Belden said she had hoped to go knock on a few doors this week but won't ask any of her campaign volunteers to trudge through the snow.
"I like my friends too much to ask them to do that," she said.
Scott said reduced voter awareness for a special election, concerns over the highly contagious omicron variant of covid-19 and the weather have all hindered the candidates' abilities to reach voters.
Scott, too, said she had planned to knock on doors, but will make phone calls instead. She remained hopeful that turnout will be higher Monday and on election day Tuesday, when weather conditions likely will be clear.
"I appreciate the courthouse staying open," Scott said. "It is possible folks could walk over there. It's a challenge, and certainly personal safety has to be of utmost importance."
Wiederkehr said his campaign has opted to send mailers and personally written postcards over knocking on doors to reach voters. The weather undoubtedly will affect an already expected low voter turnout, which means every vote is critical, he said.
"We've done our best to try to educate people on where they can vote," Wiederkehr said. "Now it's just up to people to get snow shoes or cross-country skis or dog sleds."