Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Ballot Lengthy, Very Confusing

By JOHN MILLER

If this year's political races have you confused as to which candidate to vote for, the ballot won't help matters any.

In fact, the ballot could serve to further confuse voters because of its length and complexity.

Take, for example, the race for president. Most voters know Pres. Bill Clinton, a Democrat, and his Republican challenger, Bob Dole, are opposed by independent candidate Ross Perot.

However, there are 10 other candidates seeking the office of president as well.

Interestingly, Clinton and Dole are near the end of the ticket on the Clark County ballot.

Other candidates for the nation's highest office are: Isabell Masters Ph.D and her running mate Shirley Jean Masters with the Looking Back Party; Howard Phillips and Herbert W. Titus from the U.S. Taxpayers Party; and Dr. John Hagelin and Dr. Mike Tompkins with the Natural Law Party.

These are followed by Perot and his vice presidential mate Pat Choate from the Reform Party. Then comes Monica Moorehead and Gloria Lariva from the Workers World Party; Harry Browne and Jo Jorgensen of the Libertarian Party; and Justice Ralph Forbes and Pro-Life (this is how the name is listed on the ballot) Anderson from The America First Party.

Next on the list is Mary Cal Hollis and Eric Chester of the Socialist Party of Arkansas; with Charles E. Collins and Rosemary Giumarra of the Unaffiliated Independent Party; Earl F. Dodge and Rachel B. Kelly for the Prohibition Party; and the ticket for Clinton and Gore.

Nearing the end of the ballot is Ralph Nader and Winona LaDuke of the Green Party of Arkansas; while the Dole-Kemp tandem is last with the GOP.

Following the presidential ticket is the race for U.S. Senate with Attorney General Winston Bryant, D, listed first and his GOP rival Congressman Tim Hutchinson second.

Vincent Tolliver, an unknown Democrat, heads the race for 4th Congressional Congress, with incumbent Jay Dickey, R, second on the ballot.

Looking at the race for Lt. Governor, Win Rockefeller, R, is listed first, with Charlie Cole Chaffin, Democrat, second.

Turning to county and local races, the seat for JP district 6 sees M.G. Spanial, R, challenging incumbent Democrat Bill Conine.

For Arkadelphia Board of Directors in position 1 Larry Cain and Llewellyn E. Terry Sr. are the choices. All seats for the city board are independent and non-partisan.

Position 2 sees the race between Charles B. Blevens and Richard B. "Dick" Rudolph.

Austin Wingfield and Kenny Barnes are the candidates for position 3, while there are three candidates seeking the seat in position 5: Eddie Colclasure, I.V. Chapman and Patsy Hill Harris.

The race for city alderman position 6 in Gurdon sees Glen F. Hughes running against Tammi S. Pledger, who was the alderman in ward 1 until she moved and filled the spot in district 6, which was open.

Once voters get passed these issues they will be hit with the amendments. Voters should remember the only gambling amendment which will be counted is Amendment 4. Amendments 5, 7 and 8 were officially stricken from the ballot by the Arkansas Supreme Court.

However, voters will first be deciding the fate of Amendment 1, which sets a base millage for all school districts in the state at 25 mills with the money to be distributed equally on a per-student basis.

This amendment could also help keep the courts out of the state's schools.

Then comes Amendment 2, which seeks a 1/8 cent increase in the state sales tax with the money to go to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism, the Arkansas Department of Heritage and Keep Arkansas Beautiful.

This is followed by Amendment 3, which concerns challenges to amendments and initiatives as well as ballot titles.

The lone gaming amendment is next.

It would have been followed by Amendment 9, but this amendment has also been stricken from the ballot. It dealt with federal congressional term limits.

The next issue is proposed initiated act 1, dealing with campaign contribution limits and the disclosure of such contributions to the public.

The last state issue to be decided will be the proposed Arkansas Soil and Water Conservation Commission Bond issue.

However, this is not the final measure to be decided by Gurdon voters. The last item on the ballot is the proposed annexation ordinance.

It is important for the voters of Gurdon to wade through the entire ballot to get to this proposal so they can make their wishes known to the city council.

Polls open at 7:30 a.m. Nov. 5 and close 12 hours later at 7:30 p.m.

The Gurdon Times will be late in reaching the newsstands Wednesday, Nov. 6 because of the elections.

However, a front-page story concerning the outcome of all races and issues will be in the Nov. 6 issue.

A box-by-box count of the ballot will appear in the Nov. 13 edition.