Candidates: Ballots list names in wrong order

By: Brandy S. Chewning - Texarkana Gazette -

Published: 10/11/2008

Whether there is an error on the Miller County Arkansas voting ballot is a case of election commissioners versus candidates.

Three candidates for Ward 2 director on the City Board of Directors are in agreement the order their names appear on the ballot is wrong. The trio met at the Miller County Courthouse several weeks ago to draw for ballot positions.

The names appear in alphabetical order with incumbent Shirley Bradley in the first slot, Dwayne Hall in the second position and Laney Harris in the bottom slot. The three agree Hall’s and Harris’ positions are switched.

“It’s wrong,” Bradley said.

County Clerk Ann Nicholas said two candidates reviewed the ballots Oct. 3 and noticed the error.

“This was caught when one of the candidates came in to look at the ballots,” she said. “From what I understand, the order on the ballot is not the order they remember drawing.”

Records were pulled from the drawing and numbers beside the names match the order printed on the ballot.

“Whoever wrote them down, wrote them down in error,” Nicholas said.

The drawing was overseen by county election commissioners Larry Dowd and Chris Elkins and election administrator David Orr. All three commissioners say they were present during the drawing, but none of them recall who recorded the ballot positions.

As brass discs engraved with numbers are drawn by the candidates, a recorder writes down the information immediately, Orr said. When asked about the ballot order, Orr said it was “exactly what happened at the time the drawing was held. Somebody was right there with a pencil and that list. When we went to the printer, we took that exact same sheet.”

When asked if the candidates could review the position sheet after the drawing, Elkins said, “They were not restricted in any way.”

On Nov. 4, voters will cast their opinions electronically, but 250 paper ballots were printed for absentee voters and have already been mailed. They cannot be reprinted.

“On what basis would we do that?” Orr asked, adding that resetting the printers and reprinting the ballots would cost several thousand dollars.

A state statute does deal with errors in the printing of ballots. The challenge must be made before the election and must be filed with the election commissioners. The issue cannot be raised after the election.

Neither Hall nor Harris plan to challenge the ballot.

“I don’t know if second or third really matters,” Hall said. “I don’t feel like the positioning is going to hurt me in the election.”

Harris believes a strong campaign tops an incorrect ballot slot. However, he is also concerned that some voters misinterpret the order as a recommendation, with the first choice at the top and the last choice as the bottom of the list.

“If the voters are highly informed it’s not how you’re positioned on the ballot, it’s what you think the candidate’s going to bring to the position,” Harris said. “It shouldn’t matter.”