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COMMISSION FINDS BALLOTS NOT COUNTED

By Ray King/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Tuesday, December 2, 2008 10:15 AM CST

More than 1,300 votes that were cast during the run-off election last week were not initially reported, and the Jefferson County Election Commission is trying to figure out why.

At a meeting Monday night, the commission voted to delay certifying the results until the State Board of Election Commissioners or the Secretary of State’s Office, or both, “confirm that the revised figures are accurate and valid.”

“For some reason, not all the information was extracted from the Pea’s (Personal Election Ballots) at seven different locations,” commission Secretary and Minority Party member Stuart Soffer said. “We have a built in system of checks and balances and the error was caught that way.”

Commission Chairman Booker Clemons agreed, saying that the question of explaining why the 1,309 votes cast during the run-off were not initially reported should be resolved by an independent third-party.

Questioned by the third member of the commission, Pam Jones, about the possible time frame involved, Election Coordinator Taylor Eubank said the results have to be certified within 15 days, or by Dec. 10.

“We’ve got a tax election before that so we have to take care of that first,” Eubank said, referring to the proposed half-cent sales tax increase to fund economic development and workforce training that county voters will decide Dec. 9.

“We’re going to follow the law,” Soffer said, “and if we fail to certify the results in time, I think we’ve got good justification.”

The commission also asked Eubank to get the sign-in sheets from the seven polling sites where the problems occurred, so they could be compared to the total number of votes cast with the number of signatures on the sheets.

“If the totals match, I think that’s a pretty good indication the new numbers are correct,” Clemons said.

Even with the additional votes counted, the winners declared last Tuesday remained the same: Pine Bluff Mayor Carl A. Redus Jr.; Pine Bluff City Treasurer Christopher Castoro; Pine Bluff Ward 3 Alderman Glen Brown; Pine Bluff Ward 4 Alderman George Stepps; and Redfield Alderman, Ward 2, Position 2 Sandra Garrett.

Also Monday, the commission rejected 26 absentee ballots from the run-off election because of signature issues, and accepted two others.

Although Clemons said the law didn’t require the commission to look at questionable absentee ballots, he was out voted by Soffer and Jones on the issue.

“I’m for giving the voters the benefit of the doubt,” Soffer said. “We need to go that extra mile for the voter if necessary.”

Regarding the 26 rejected absentee ballots, the commission voted to refer them to Prosecuting Attorney Steve Dalrymple for investigation and possible legal action.

The commission is expected to meet again later this week to consider eight or nine provisional ballots that were cast during the run-off. That meeting was tentatively set for Wednesday afternoon at the commission office.

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