Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Election Is Tuesday; Ballot Choices Interesting

By JOHN MILLER

For those people who have trouble making decisions, the General Election ballot, Nov. 5, will be a nightmare.

While Pres. Bill Clinton and Bob Dole are the two most widely known and publicized candidates for president, there are, in fact, 13 candidates seeking the highest office in the nation on the ballot -- all from different parties.

Most voters will be surprised to find neither Clinton nor Dole at the top of the ballot either. In fact, Dr. John Hagelin and Dr. Mike Tompkins head the list as the presidential and vice presidential candidates for the Natural Law Party.

From there it really gets interesting.

Next comes Isabell Masters and Shirley Jean Masters from the Looking Back Party; Ralph Nader and Winona Laduke from the Green Party of Arkansas; Monica Moorehead and Gloria Lariva with the Workers World Party; Howard Phillips and Herbert W. Titus with the U.S. Taxpayers Party of Arkansas and Harry Browne and Jo Jorgensen of the Libertarian Party.

Aside from Clinton and Dole, the most recognized name on the list will be Ross Perot with his Reform Party. His VP choice this time around is Pat Choate.

Clinton and Gore are next on the ballot, followed by Justice Ralph Forbes an Pro-Life Anderson (folks, this is not a misprint, this is how the name is listed on the ballot) with The American First Party.

Earl F. Dodge and Rachel B. Kelly are the choices from the Prohibition Party, and are listed before the Dole-Kemp Republican ticket.

Then comes Mary Cal Hollis and Eric Chester with the Socialist Party of Arkansas, with Charles E. Collins and Rosemary Giumarra of the Unaffiliated Independent Party.

The most noteworthy name missing from this year's ballot is Lyndon LaRouche, who is still serving a prison sentence in Ft. Leavenworth for tax evasion.

After the presidential race comes the contest for U.S. Senate. The ballot will show Attorney General Winston Bryant, Democrat, first, with Congressman Tim Hutchinson, GOP, next.

Then comes the seat for U.S. Congress, 4th Congressional District. Democratic candidate Vincent Toliver is first, with incumbent GOP Congressman Jay Dickey next.

After this is the race for Lt. Governor between Charlie Cole Chaffin, D, first on the ballot, with Win Rockefeller, R, second.

The final state-related contest pits Democrat Sandra Reyenga Rodgers as the lead candidate on the ballot with her Republican challenger, Tim Cornelius, second.

This ends the state and national races, bringing the voters to the lone contested county-wide race -- Nevada County Sheriff.

According to the ballot positions, Steve Otwell, D, is listed first, while his Independent challenger, Johnny Campbell is second.

On the back side of the four page ballot (yes voters, this one is a long one) is a list of those candidates who have no opposition. This includes state and district offices, county and township offices, along with municipal offices for Prescott, Rosston, Emmet, Willisville, Cale, Bluff City and Bodcaw.

The front page of the second portion of the ballot deals with the start of the proposed constitutional amendments with the initiated acts from the state legislature on the back.

Proposed amendments 1-4 will be counted. Amendments 5-7 have been stricken from the ballot and, while they are still listed, will not be counted by the tabulating machines. These amendments deal with proposed gaming issues and have been declared illegal because of their ballot titles.

Amendment 9, on page four of the ballot, gives voters the chance to let their feelings be known about congressional term limits. This is the last proposed amendment.

However, it is not the last issue to be voted on. There is one proposed initiated act, and one issue dealing with the Arkansas Soil and Water Conservation Commission Bond.

The proposed initiated act deals with campaign contributions and disclosure thereof. This act will regulate the amount of money which can be donated to a political campaign and make it easier for citizens to find out who donated and how much.

The Nov. 6 edition of the Nevada County Picayune, will be late hitting the streets due to the election Nov. 5.

This year, there will be a front-page story concerning the election outcome, with the box-by-box results scheduled to be in the Nov. 13 issue.

Early bird, or no excuse voting is currently underway and can be done at the Nevada County Clerk's Office.

The polls open county-wide at 7:30 a.m., closing at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 5.

Nevada County Clerk Julie Stockton urges all registered voters in the county to come out and vote.