Election Commission to address ballot controversy
Posted on Wednesday, January 31, 2007
BENTONVILLE - Requests for information from the Benton County Election Commission about its controversial handling of some ballots in the 2006 District 2 justice of the peace race will come in a few days, Benton County Election Commission chairman John Brown said Tuesday.
There have been two requests for responses. One was an e-mail signed by Rhonda Franz, who identified herself as a concerned voter in District 2.
Franz's post-election e-mail cited a Nov. 10 story in The Benton County Daily Record, which reported that soon after the election, Brown - carrying uncounted ballots to the Election Commission Office - walked with and talked with the wife of District 2 candidate Frank Winscott.
"I was appalled … that the wife of one of the justice of the peace candidates was walking and talking with the Election Commission chairman, John Brown, as he was taking uncounted ballots to the Election Commission Office (days after the election ). … This was a bad judgment call … for allowing this to occur," the email states.
Franz's e-mail was copied to the state Board of Election Commissioners. The board is the other entity seeking information on the same subject.
Both Franz's e-mail and the state Board of Election Commissioners will have responses in a few days, Brown said. "We will respond to them."
Originated on Jan. 18, Franz's e-mail states it was her second one on the subject, the first having been sent in November 2006 to the Benton County Election Commission and the "state election commission."
He is still looking and has not yet found a November 2006 e-mail, Brown said Thursday. "We didn't find it in our files. I'm not saying the lady didn't send it. … I haven't seen it before," he said.
According to the first results released in the 2006 election, Murphy led the race. In several later versions of results, Winscott won. In the final count, Democrat Murphy got 1, 411 votes; Republican Winscott got 1, 484.
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