Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Priest says: Path to election reform has been strange

Election reform is taking "strange twists," according to Arkansas Secretary of State Sharon Priest.

Priest, who spoke to the Prescott Rotary Club, said things are happening on the state and federal level concerning election reform.

Few people, she said, cared much about elections before Nov. 2000, when the dispute over how ballots were counted in Florida arose in the presidential election.

"Most people thought elections just happen," she said. "This is wrong. In Arkansas, there's an election somewhere at least once a month."

Last year, she added, people learned a little of how complex elections really are.

In Arkansas, Priest said, there are three things involved in elections. First the Secretary of State oversees legal issues concerning elections. Next, the county election commissioners prepare everything for election day, up to and including finding poll workers. Then, early and absentee ballots are dealt with, along with voter registration.

The early and absentee ballots, along with voter registration are handled by the county clerk's office and staff.

Priest said suggestions were made in looking at how county election commissioners are selected, with one idea being to have them elected as well. This would have resulted in another election.

Now, the commissioners are picked by the majority party in any county. This, she said, is done because of the primary process.

Three pieces of legislation concerning elections were presented to the Arkansas General Assembly last year.

One required all military and overseas ballots to be counted regardless of their effect on the outcome of an election. It appears these ballots hadn't been being counted unless they would have had some bearing on how an election came out.

Priest said this is wrong because anyone who takes time to vote should have their vote counted.

Another suggestion was mandatory poll worker training, with two workers at each precinct being certified by the state.

At this time, she said, poll workers are little more than prisoners being kept at their precinct from the time the polls open until after the polls close.

One reason for this, Priest said, is the lack of volunteers to work polls on election days.

Complaints have been lodged about the amount of time it takes to cast a ballot, but this, she said, is because the majority of poll workers are senior citizens.

Priest suggested businesses, churches and civic groups get involved in the election process by manning the polls. With more people involved, she said, the work can be done in shifts so no one person has to be at the precinct as much as 15 hours, as now happens.

The third item the legislature discussed was secret ballots. At this time, Priest said, all ballots are numbered and when someone comes to vote, the number is placed alongside their name.

Because of this, she said, it can be learned how any individual voted.

"People deserve to have a secret ballot," she said. "Voter fraud in Arkansas isn't as rampant as some thought.

"The election study commission is looking at election laws to see how to make things better."

The idea, she said, is to make the voting process smoother and easier for those working the polls and casting ballots, with voters feeling more informed and confident with their selections.

Early voting has been a problem in Arkansas since it began, she said. The people like it because they can vote up to 15 days before an election.

However, candidates detest it because they have to peak almost a month early and maintain their pace until the election is over.

Candidates also aren't thrilled with absentee voting, which begins 25 days before an election, and makes it this much harder for them to peak and maintain.

Uniform equipment is needed in the election process, Priest said. As it is now, there are few regulations on what equipment is used to count ballots, or cast a ballot.

Federal money is available at a 90-10 match, she said.

To make all equipment uniform across the nation, Priest said, two different bills have been presented to members of Congress.

One, a senate bill, the Dodd-McConnell bill, would mandate by 2004 all precincts in America have electronic voting equipment with touch screens.

But, she said, one problem with this is there are more than 200,000 precincts in America, and it would be impossible to get the same equipment in each one by the 04 deadline.

The Nay-Hayes bill in the House has been endorsed by the ruling organization of the Secretaries of State. "It's not perfect by any means," Priest said.

"Both want provisional voting with challenge voting available. The House bill also wants second chance voting made available."

Second chance voting would give a voter a second opportunity to cast a ballot should they make a mistake on their first one.

"Elections are more complex than most people think," she said. "Elections are non-partisan and are there for people to make their decisions."