Audit finds no change in election
Posted on Thursday, April 12, 2007
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/News/52005/
Northwest Arkansas Times An internal audit Wednesday by the Washington County Election Commission upheld the unofficial results of the special election in which road impact fees were approved by a margin of one. The outcome of the election could change if 23 overseas ballots are returned or the commission were to accept two provisional ballots, though there is not expected to be any change. The five overseas ballots already received are probably the only ones that will come in, said Karen Combs Pritchard, Washington County clerk.
“ It’s hard to say whether they’ll come in or not, ” she said. “ I doubt they will because they were sent out in plenty of time, but you know, we might get them in. ”
She said overseas voters are more likely to participate in a candidate election than in this type of issue.
There were two provisional ballots cast, she said, but one was clearly voting in the wrong polling place, which the law does not allow. The other provisional ballot was cast by a person that had no record of being registered to vote anywhere, she said. If that person can show proof of being registered and voted in the correct polling location, the commission could choose to count the ballot, she said.
The provisional ballot will remain locked up until the commission makes a decision, and unless it is accepted only the voter will know whether he or she was for or against the issue, Pritchard said.
The mere possibility the election could result in a tie is something Pritchard said hasn’t happened for an issue election in a while.
“ I’ve never in my 37 years of being here seen an issue be this close, ” she said.
Candidate elections have ended in ties or within a few votes, but not issue elections, Pritchard said. One thing that this does point out is how important it is for people to participate, she said.
It’s hard to understand why issues that affect a community of nearly 70, 000 people are left up to 4, 000, Pritchard said, when there are more than 30, 000 registered voters.
The election commission is tentatively scheduled to meet Friday to discuss the election and provisional ballots, Chairman John Logan Burrow said.
Burrow said the people who cast the ballots will be contacted and invited to discuss them with the commission, though they are not expected to come.
“ We set the hearings and wait for someone to come, but no one’s ever shown up, ” he said.
Burrow said that as far as the outstanding overseas ballots, they will be counted if they are received by April 20, but they will have to be postmarked no later than April 10. The ballots are sent to people who have a standing request, he said, and they don’t participate in every election.
Whether to allow a recount will be a decision left to the commission, said Tim Humphries, general counsel for the Arkansas Secretary of State.
Humphries said the code only addresses the procedure for candidate elections and is unclear on what would happen in this case.
“ The election commission is just going to have to make a call on it, ” he said.
Burrow said no one has contacted the commission about a recount. He said the internal audit is the same as a recount, but if someone comes forward the group will discuss it.
As far as what happens in the event of a tie, Humphries said, in general it would mean the measure would fail. He said he couldn’t speak to the matter because he had not researched it, but that typically a question must be approved by a majority to pass.
City Attorney Kit Williams said that because the fees were sent to voters pursuant to Amendment 7, that would hold true. Under Amendment 7, an issue has to have at least 50 percent plus one to pass.
Williams said that as it stands, the impact fees received “ the absolute minimum needed to pass. ”