Election Commission seeks state law changes
Posted on Saturday, December 20, 2008
Throwing away fewer unused election ballots and creation of "voting centers" at which any registered county voter could cast a ballot are measures the Washington County Election Commission believe merit consideration.
Those were among proposals the commission relayed Friday to local lawmakers, who will convene for the 87th Arkansas General Assembly on Jan. 12 to propose new laws and rewrite existing ones.
Legislators at the Friday meeting were Rep. Jim House, Sen. Sue Madison and Rep. Uvalde Lindsey, all Democrats from Fayetteville.
Many of the proposed changes attempt to adjust state laws to take into account new technology, such as electronic voting machines that don't require paper ballots.
Current law requires the election commission to order paper ballots based on the number of ballots cast in the last comparable election. But with the advent of electronic balloting, many more votes are using the touchscreen voting devices, yet those voters are counted in the tally used to determine the number of paper ballots required in future elections.
Election Coordinator Nancy Varvil said that requirement resulted in about 50,000 too many paper ballots for the general election in Washington County. All of those were thrown away.
The county ordered 90,000 paper ballots for the election. About 68,680 people voted, but about 45 percent choose electronic voting and did not need paper ballots.
The commission suggested to lawmakers that the requirement change to 150 percent of the paper ballots cast in the last comparable election, eliminating the electronic voting from the total.
VOTING CENTERS
Commission members also discussed the potential for voting centers on election day that would allow voters to pick where they wanted to cast ballots. Under current circumstances, voters on election day must show up at a specific polling place to which they were assigned based on proximity to their homes.
Voting centers, a measure backed by Arkansas Secretary of State Charlie Daniels, would replace the current precinct-based system. Washington County currently has 128 organized into 58 polling places.
Madison opposed the idea as discussed Friday. Later Friday in an interview, she said voting centers could create confusion about who voters can cast ballots for. Candidates would have to campaign at each voting site regardless of whether it's in or near a district or ward they seek to represent.
"I don't see the advantage to it," she said, noting it would be easy for a voter to receive an incorrect ballot.
Proponents say voting centers could give voters more flexibility and make it easier for them to vote.
LOGISTICS
Most of the legislative changes proposed focused on the logistics of running elections.
One proposal is to make certification of all elections due 15 days after the vote. As it is now, there are varying certification deadlines for different types of elections.
Burrow said such a change will help the commission, especially in a larger election.
Another request is to change state law so that no ballots need to be printed, nor an election held, when only unopposed candidates are running in a political party's primary election.
One of the changes suggested by the commission is to bar any elections on holidays.
In the New Year's Day election this year, residents of the Valley View subdivision voted to become Farmington residents. The New Year's Day runoff election was required after Prairie Grove and Valley View residents voted 225-95 on Dec. 13, 2007, to annex the golf course neighborhood.
Farmington residents, along with voters in the subdivision, approved annexing the subdivision on Nov. 13, 2007.
In contested annexations, Arkansas voting statutes require a runoff election, for residents of the contested area only, to be three weeks to the day after the final annexation election. In the case of Valley View, that fell on New Year's Day.
The Election Commission sought an opinion from Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel on the holiday vote. McDaniel sided with the vote being held on the holiday to avoid any legal issues.
The proposed change in law the election commission suggests that if the Election Day falls on any federal, state or county holiday, it be conducted the following Tuesday.
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