Strong turnout for early voting

The Sentinel-Record/Richard Rasmussen WAITING IN LINE: Voters line up outside the Garland County Election Commission Building at 649A Ouachita Ave. on Monday morning, the first day of early voting for the Nov. 8 general election.
The Sentinel-Record/Richard Rasmussen WAITING IN LINE: Voters line up outside the Garland County Election Commission Building at 649A Ouachita Ave. on Monday morning, the first day of early voting for the Nov. 8 general election.

More than 1,800 voters in Garland County cast ballots through the first afternoon of early voting in the Nov. 8 general election, according to the voting software used by the Garland County Election Commission.

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The Sentinel-Record/Richard Rasmussen PACKED: Voters packed the inside of the Garland County Election Commission Building at 649A Ouachita Ave. on Monday morning. More than 1,800 voters in Garland County cast ballots through the first afternoon of early voting in the Nov. 8 general election.

The line at the election commission building on Ouachita Avenue extended into the parking lot for most of the day, surpassing the vote total through the first afternoon of early voting in the March 1 preferential primaries and nonpartisan judicial elections by more than fourfold. Election Commissioner Dennis Bosch attributed the turnout to the commission's early voting campaign.

The commission has said long lines are inevitable on Election Day if past voting trends continue. Getting more of the 26,000 voters the commission projects will vote on Election Day to vote early will expedite Election Day voting, the commission said.

"We were hoping for this kind of early turnout," Bosch said. "We made a lot of effort to promote early voting. It looks like it's paying off in spades."

Weekday early voting runs Monday to Oct. 28 and Oct. 31 to Nov. 4 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the election commission building at 649A Ouachita Ave. and Hot Springs Memorial Field at 525 Airport Road. The polls will be open Monday Nov. 7 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday voting at the two locations and Faith Fellowship Church at 3213 Highway 7 north is available from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Oct. 29 and Nov. 5.

Faith Fellowship Church has the same early voting hours as the election commission building and airport except for on Wednesdays, when the polls will be open from noon to 6 p.m.

Absentee ballots are available at the Garland County clerk's office in Room 103 of the Garland County Court House. Nov. 1 is the deadline for the county clerk to receive absentee ballot applications. Nov. 4 is the deadline for voters who have moved from another county to transfer their registration.

About 3 percent of the county's more than 64,000 registered voters voted Monday. By mid afternoon, the number of people who had checked in through the county's electronic poll books was approaching 600 at both the election commission and Hot Springs Memorial Field. Faith Fellowship Church on Highway 7 north had more than 400 voters check in through 2 p.m.

Voters skewed older, with the 65-to-74 cohort accounting for more than 600 votes. Voters 75 and older accounted for almost 400 votes by mid afternoon, followed the 56-to-64 set (330), voters 45 to 54 (149) and voters 34 to 44 (70). Only 18 voters 18 to 24 had voted by 2:30 p.m. Voters 25 to 34 had cast 51 ballots during that time.

Ballots statewide list Nathan Johnson as the Better for America Party's vice presidential candidate instead of the correct candidate, Mindy Finn. Chris Powell, Arkansas secretary of state press manager, said the party didn't replace Johnson with Finn on its ticket until after the state had certified the ballot in August.

"(The party) submitted Nathan Johnson as the vice presidential candidate," Powell said. "We did hear some reports they were going to change the running mate after the fact. Once (Johnson's) name was certified on the ballot, that becomes the name on the ballot."

Local on 10/25/2016

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