Arkansas Elections: Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times

House approves bill with new petition restrictions

Max Brantley — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 12:33:00 -0500

The House today approved SB 821 to place additional burdens on petition campaigns for ballot initiatives. The vote was 78-9.

The bill was pushed by the two casinos in Arkansas and big business generally to discourage grassroots efforts to put bills and amendments on the ballot. Rep. Jim Nickels pointed out several problems in the 19-page bill. Advocates of the bill noted sloppy petition gathering in 2012. They didn't mention that none of those campaigns marked by flawed canvassing made the ballot. The existing safeguards worked, in other words.

Rep. Jeremy Gillam said the bill was aimed at people trying to "buy" access. But none did. Nickels noted that the casino operators have plenty of money and they can spend a sufficient amount to meet any new rules, including registration of canvassers and a change of the current law that allows canvassers to complete filling in voter information, address and such, after they've given a signature.

Rep. Mark Lowery, speaking from the right end of the spectrum (the Family Council opposes the bill), said the language in the bill "impugns the integrity" of all canvassers, paid and unpaid, who try to circulate petitions for the ballot.

This is another bill with constitutional problems. The Arkansas Constitution provides great protection for the petition process, which would be significantly hampered by this legislation. Opponents of the bill have said a lawsuit is a possibility.

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North Little Rock precincts sharply divided over Mayor's race

David Ramsey — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 11:28:49 -0600

North Little Rock school board member Scott Miller, a supporter of Tracy Steele, has an interesting breakdown on the runoff for mayor on his Facebook page.

Looking at the vote counts for Steele and Joe Smith by precinct reveals that different areas in the city were starkly divided over the two candidates, with Smith dominating north of I-40 and Steele racking up big margins south of I-40. Here are the numbers from Miller:

North of I-40...Smith 70.0%...Steele 30.0%
South of I-40...Smith 22.3%...Steele 77.7%
The Levy/Amboy area generally broke about even between the two so let’s look at North of I-40 less Levy/Amboy....Smith 78.5%...Steele 21.5%
Baring Cross, Argenta, Sherman Park, Dixie, Rose City...Smith 18.3%...Steele 81.7%
Indian Hills, Overbrook, McCain Mall North of McCain Smith 80.3%...Steele 19.7%

Did race play a factor in the election? Miller thinks not, noting that some of the areas that Steele dominated are majority white.

You can see the very deep divisions that underlie the total vote percentage of about 55-45 for Smith. But don't let anyone tell you these numbers reflect a race issue. For the large part they don't. Much of the area south of I-40 & East of 440 went heavily Steele despite being majority white. In my opinion these numbers reflect a story of areas that perceive everything is OK in the City and other areas that feel left out with fire stations, safety or development, or just feel disenfranchised. Mayor-elect Smith has some heavy lifting to do to heal this City and I don't envy him.

At the very least, looks like Miller is right that where voters live was the best predictor of how they voted in the runoff. Of course, wherever they called home, a good chunk of them stayed there on election day. Turnout, as expected, was significantly down from the general election earlier this month.

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Joe Smith wins runoff for North Little Rock Mayor

David Ramsey — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 10:46:06 -0600

Joe Smith flipped the script. On Election Day earlier this month, Rep. Tracy Steele had a commanding lead over Smith in their race for North Little Rock mayor, with 48.2 percent of the vote to 41.1 percent for Smith. But Steele couldn’t quite get a majority in the four-candidate race, forcing yesterday’s runoff election, where Smith prevailed with 54.7 percent of the vote, topping Steele by nearly 10 points.

Smith credited a whole lot of door knocking and re-energized supporters after his second-place finish, but it looks to me like turnout was the key. With a presidential election on and Obama on the ticket, more than 21,000 votes were cast in the general election for North Little Rock mayor back on November 6. For the runoff, less than 14,000 folks showed up to vote. Smith himself nabbed 2,000 less votes than he had in the general.

On the other hand, Smith’s supporters do sound energized, though their chanting is rhythmically challenged.

North Little Rock firefighters, who endorsed Steele, struck a conciliatory tone on Facebook last night: “We gave it our best and left it all on the field so to speak. Now we move forward to try and better the service we provide to our citizens with Mayor Smith.”

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Arkansas values at work: Three 'dry' counties vote for alcohol sales

Max Brantley — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 11:09:55 -0600

I criticized Jason "Elmer Gantry" Rapert, who won a Senate seat in Faulkner County, for saying opponent Linda Tyler's reluctant but reasoned decision to support medical marijuana was contrary to "Conway values." Evangelicals are powerful in Conway, no doubt. But I bet a lot of those church goers like to use the birth control pills that Rapert would love to make it harder to obtain, including the morning after for rape victims. I know one Rapert supporter called me to say he was voting for medical marijuana. He has more compassion for sick people than Rapert.

Making presumptions about values for all is dangerous business.

Take medical marijuana. It was a narrow loss statewide. I think if the measure had left out the grow-your-own option, a weak but effective talking point against the initiative, it might have passed.

Take booze. When determined people can get past the crazy petition requirements, Arkansas voters tend to indicate they'd like to take a drink now and again. See Conway, where "private clubs" have proliferated over the objections of the evangelical churches that form Rapert's base there.

More of the same last night. Arkansas Business ran the traps and found that "wet" election propositions passed in Benton, Sharp and Madison counties. Springdale also voted to approve Sunday alcohol sales.

Could somebody get the Little Rock Board of Directors to put Sunday retail alcohol sales — or at least grocery store beer — on an election ballot. The law allows it.

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Obamacare foe didn't get her country back

Max Brantley — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 09:31:50 -0600

Remember Colleen Shoemaker? She was the tearful Obamacare foe whose plea to get her country back was featured on our cover in August 2009 and on a video we posted that went viral and hit national TV.

She was celebrating the Republican Party takeover of the Arkansas legislature at the GOP victory party last night, if not four more years of Barack Obama.

Cheree Franco talked to her last night in this color story on the Republican scene at the Embassy Suites in western Little Rock.

Doyle Webb estimated attendance of 400 (based on pre-registration). At the bar, they were serving up complimentary vodka and cranberry juice, the“red” special. The first song I heard is an elevator version of "Girl from Ipanema." I was reminded of my friend’s sweet but dumb dog — my friend always hums "Girl from Ipanema" and says she thinks that’s what’s going on in his head at all times.

Early in the night, I spoke with Colleen Shoemaker from Bauxite — the woman we used on the cover.

I asked her what happened that day at the town hall meeting (which was at Ark. Children’s Hospital and was entirely about Obamacare).

“When I got up there to talk, I was so emotional, all I can remember saying is, ‘I want my America back.’” This was her first time to come out to the big Republican party. “I’m really rooting for Romney,” she said. “There have been a lot of us praying, every night, 7 o’clock, all around the country for 40 days. We all hooked up on the internet.” The site is teapartypatriots.org.

“One thing I hope is if Mitt Romney wins, the Republican establishment will be more conservative than they are now. We’re all a little unhappy with the old guard...John Boehner, for one, I would love to see him voted out of the speaker of the house...he just doesn’t get it.”

I also spoke with a black man, Thurlo Cobb, a former hip-hop artist born into a Democratic family. He does financial advising now, and said he went Republican a decade ago, when he tried to start his own business and was stymied by regulations. “There were lots of roadblocks, regulations, taxes, a burden to somebody trying to start a business....I realized the Democrats were not pro-business, there were pro, ‘hey, if you can’t make it, we’ll give you some money, here’s some welfare’....”

“Are you not bothered by the recent racist comments made by some Republican state legislators?” I asked.

“There are people that use poor judgment in every walk of life,” he said. “I used to be in the hip hop business. If you listen to the average hip hop lyrics, a lot of those are misogynistic. A lot of those are racist....but we don’t condemn those people, because in America, we practice free speech...I went to college with a lot of people from the African continent. They have a much tougher time getting to America to get educated than people who are born right here in America. Slavery was terrible, one of the most unforgivable atrocities that ever happened to mankind. But, what is the positive out of that? For those people who survived that, we have opportunity here that people only dream of.... so the comments that were made along that line? There is some truth to that — we are better off now that we are here.”

I wanted to know about the wait staff — largely Latino and black folks. The first woman I spoke to, a Latina who doesn’t want her name used, told me she was a Republican, but then grew bashful didn’t want to say more. When I asked why she was Republican, she kept saying, “I don’t know, I don’t know, I can’t say.” An older man doing the grilling, Roger Raynor, came all the way from the Embassy Suites in Nashville to work the party. “They asked me to help, so I came. But I’m here because I came to work,” he said. Still, he’s a Republican, and said he probably wouldn’t have driven so far to work the Democratic party. Then I asked a waitress, an older black woman. “Oh, I'm a Democrat,” she said immediately. “I’m here because I have to be here. But it’s ok, I’m ok, I’m neutral.”

One man, an independent Romney-supporter, who also voted for some Democratic candidates and had just come from the Democratic party at Cotham’s, told me that he’d never seen as much plastic surgery as in that Embassy Suites ballroom. A little girl, about nine, picked over some fancy chocolate truffles at the buffet. She was in a huge, puffy, white kiddie-bridal dress. A few folks took packed plates on the elevators, up to their room around 10 p.m., as the party started dying down.

Despite their “victories” (a standing ovation when the narrow defeat of Arkansas medical marijuana was announced), faces begin to grow longer as the presidential returns kept coming in. And lots of folks were feeling the effects of alcohol and outwardly emotional. Women in cocktail dresses and spiked heels crossed their arms and sulked, shaking their heads, audibly sighing and groaning, always with a drink still in one hand.

“Nevada? That’s unbelievable!” one of them said.

“It’s because of those stability checks,” the man with her slurred. (I didn’t know what he was talking about and would have asked, but he seemed way too upset and drunk to bother. Disability maybe?)

At 10:38, Ohio began to look like it had gone Obama, and everyone knew the race hinged on Ohio. But there was still the tiniest room for doubt. A middle-aged woman in black slacks and a sparkly blouse said to a girlfriend, “I think we need to pray.” A few minutes later, she dabbed her eyes with a bar napkin. Ohio definitely went Obama.

There were stragglers till 11 though, till right after it became clear that Obama had absolutely won. But the party attempted to end on an upbeat note by bringing victorious U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin to stage. “The big news tonight is not my individual race [he had the smallest victory margin of the four Republican winners in Arkansas], it’s what’s going on in this room and around the state...the people of Arkansas have spoken, they have spoken clearly, they have spoken loudly, they want a conservative Republican government.”

Then Arkansas’s new state senate leader Michael Lamoureux took the stage and said, “We need to take Arkansas with all of its successes...and make it the best place to live and raise a family.”

“That’s right, baby!” shouted a blonde girl in a cocktail dress. There were lots of blonde girls in cocktail dresses, and they all seemed to be intent on video-ing their legislative stars, particularly Griffin, with their smart phones. And once Griffin left the stage, small children ran up to him, and he began an extended round of baby-kissing. The soundtrack to this was The Beatles’ "Revolution." Somehow, I doubt they would have approved.

A few other state legislators worked the (at this point, largely long-faced) crowd.

David Sanders, who just won his senate bid, spoke to the middle-aged weeping woman and a man (her husband?) at their table. “It’s scary,” the woman told him.

“It’s very scary,” he said.

But the man had a different take. Looking squarely at Sanders, he said, “As long as you Republicans don’t eff up and say we won’t deal with you Democrats.”

Emily and her brother Alex Jacuzzi, young twenty-somethings, were both dressed in three-piece red, white and blue outfits, and Alex kept talking about how he couldn’t wait to get to White Water Tavern.

“White Water?” I asked. “Do Republicans go there?”

“There are Republicans in Hillcrest,” he said. Mostly, he seemed excited about the $2 pitchers, though.

Less than an hour later, we met again at White Water. Despite his allegiance to Romney, Alex seemed in good spirits. He had his pitcher, and the rest of us, finally, finally had our concession speech.

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One race remains in doubt for Arkansas house UPDATE

Max Brantley — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 09:10:32 -0600

Drama continues on the question of leadership of the Arkansas House of Representatives.

As the numbers now stand, Republicans won a historic edge 51-48, with a Green Party winner, Fred Smith, who's previously been a Democrat.

But ...

The victory includes a 45-vote margin for Republican farm laborer John Hutchison of Harrisburg (the fellow under ethics investigation for using campaign cash for personal expenses). Democrat L.J. Bryant reports to Democratic Party officials that he'll be asking for a recount. There were complaints about faulty ballot scanners, the same problem reported in scattered sites around Arkansas.

But, more important, says the party's Candace Martin, is Bryant's report that there are about 200 provisional ballots to be considered in Craighead County. These ballots are not reflected in the vote total. She says it is her understanding that these provisional ballots arose from aggressive ID challenges by some poll workers in rural areas. IDs are required to be requested in Arkansas, but not required to be produced. When doubts about a voter arise, however, an election official can allow the vote but set the ballot aside for potential counting later after verification of eligibility. At this point it is impossible to know how many of those reputed 200 ballots are legal voters and, if they are, how they might trend. One indication, however, is that Hutchison leads Craighead County in the votes that were counted by a comfortable 55-45 margin. Continuation of that trend, even if all provisional votes are counted, means the seat, and the House majority, remains in Republican hands.

I hope to have more.

UPDATE: A spokesman of the secretary of state's office has a more detailed version of events in Craighhead County which would indicate further that even a challenge of disallowed ballots will likely leave Bryant behind, though outstanding overseas and military absentees also could factor in if they turn up. Mark Myers writes:

We were in contact with Craighead County until 1:30 am this morning at which time tabulating the votes was complete. All the votes have been tabulated with the exception of the UOCAVA ballots. ( I believe there are 32.) There were 49 provisional ballots turned in. The Election Commission voted to go over them last night and they voted to count 13 of the 49.

We spoke with Craighead County Clerk's office this morning, who confirmed there were only 49 provisional ballots, but also noted they have been receiving calls but have no clue about the “200 outstanding ballots.”. She said the Bryant campaign may be referring to the hand count ballots as provisional. If you recall, Craighead County inadvertently left two city council races off the ballot so they had two precincts (I believe 6 & 9) vote on ballots that were hand counted. They were tabulated last night and are included in the Craighead County numbers.

Here's a handy compilation of legislative results from Roby Brock's Talk Business.

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Why some Pulaski votes aren't being fed into scanners this morning

Max Brantley — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 09:36:42 -0600

A voter from the Mother Church — Pulaski Heights Presbyterian in the Free State of Hillcrest — reports that ballots weren't being put in the scanner this morning, but dropped in a box. It made him nervous. Pulaski Election Coordinator Melinda Allen explains:

Some of polling locations are experiencing equipment problems with the M100 Scanner reading. Even though all of the equipment was tested before it was sent out, sometimes we do have technical difficulties. Since we do vote on paper ballot on Election Day, we are able to continue letting the voters vote. The poll workers are trained to have the voters place their ballots in the emergency bin and when the equipment issue is fixed, two poll workers insert the ballot into the m100 and document this on their Election Protocol Form.

I am very sorry for the inconvenience, but I do promise your vote will be counted and we are working on the issue right now.

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The core dishonesty on Issue 2 requires NO vote

Max Brantley — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 07:08:00 -0500

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's Michael Wickline wrote a thorough analysis of little-discussed (pay wall) Issue 2, another get-rich scheme for developers that is mostly flying under radar this election season. As I've said before, the Koch Bros.' paid mouthpiece in Arkansas, Teresa Oelke, quoted in the article, is dead right on this issue.

The constitutional scheme before voters Tuesday to allow local sales taxes to subsidize private retail development is nothing but corporate welfare, with no proven benefit to anyone except the corporation receiving the handout. They call it economic development or, worse, "redevelopment." But no retail store ever created new demand for socks, underwear, shotguns or anything else. It only shifted the business from somewhere else. If private businesses want to invest some money in, say, a Southwest Little Rock shopping center to build a giant sporting goods store that would cripple other sporting goods stores in the rest of Little Rock, Benton, North Little Rock or wherever, let them do it with their own dimes.

Read the language carefully:

Issue 2 would allow “the acquisition, development, redevelopment, and revitalization of land within the district, for eliminating or preventing the development or spread of slums or blighted, deteriorated, or deteriorating areas, for discouraging the loss of commerce, industry, or employment, for increasing employment, or any combination ... as may be defined by the General Assembly.” My emphasis supplied

There's all kind of cloaking language about redevelopment and revitalization but it is not REQUIRED by the plain language. To qualify for the handout, a business need only demonstrate it has bought land to open a business that will employ someone, even if it means a loss of jobs and resulting blight elsewhere. A Little Rock developer could get a tax subsidy to build a Brooks Brothers store in ritzy Pulaski Heights.

We went down this road before with the tax increment finance amendment, another developer boondoggle upended when the Supreme Court wouldn't let developers plunder school tax money for shopping centers. Now they're back trying to cadge sales tax money.

Remember Amendment 78, the "city and county government redeveloment" amendment"? It provided:

For purposes of this section, the term "redevelopment project" means an undertaking for eliminating, or preventing the development or spread of, slums or blighted, deteriorated, or deteriorating areas, for discouraging the loss of commerce, industry, or employment, or for increasing employment, or any combination thereof, as may be defined by the General

Again, I supplied emphasis in the passage above. All that claptrap about redevelopment was just a cloak for the real purpose, subsidies for developers in the richest cities. Create a job and you qualify, even if you kill jobs elsewhere with your project. One of the few projects shoved through under this handout before it (the TIF handout scheme) foundered was the Turtle Creek Mall in Jonesboro, in a better part of town, that further damaged competitively an older shopping center. Some redevelopment. Go-go Rogers and Little Rock and North Little Rock developers also were licking their chops and you can be sure they weren't targeting the ghetto.

It's another bite at the same apple. Vote NO ON ISSUE 2. The Kochs and the Arkansas Times, together at last.

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Mike Beebe hits the road for Democratic candidates with legislative control in the balance

Max Brantley — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 13:04:35 -0500

Hey, the Koch brothers aren't the only people who can hire a bus.

Gov. Mike Beebe and the Democratic Party have announced a bus tour in Northeast Arkansas this weekend to encourage voting for Democratic legislative candidates. The release:

Governor Mike Beebe will lead the “Move Arkansas Forward” tour to Get Out the Vote (GOTV) for candidates who will work to continue our Arkansas success story by continuing to create jobs, strengthen K-12 education, cut taxes, and balance our state budget.

Event details follow. All events are open to the media and public.

Saturday, November 3, 2012
10:00 a.m.
Governor Beebe leads rally with state Senator Robert Thompson, state Representative Butch Wilkins, Harold Copenhaver, and LJ Bryant
West Washington Guest House, 534 West Washington Ave., Jonesboro

11:00 a.m.
Governor Beebe leads rally and canvass with state Senator Robert Thompson, state Representative James Ratliff, and Mary Broadaway
Centennial Park, Pruett Street, Paragould

1:00 p.m.
Governor Beebe, state Representative James Ratliff, and Scott Baltz lead rally and canvass
Courthouse/Chamber of Commerce Building, 107 East Everett Street, Pocahontas

This is as good a time as any to volunteer my feelings on where the fight for control of the legislature stands. It's the subject of our cover story this week by Lindsey Millar:

* I think Republicans sincerely believe the anti-Obama sentiment in Arkansas has produced a permanently changed Arkansas electorate, inclined toward Republicans. They sincerely believe the elections will give them a legislative majority. I also think they are spinning and exaggerating that belief because it influences media, which influences voters, and also influences campaign contributions. (To clarify what I wrote originally: I don't think they are exaggerating when they say they think they'll claim a majority. I think they are exaggerating the size of the majority.)

* I think Democrats sincerely believe their polling and their head-counting which shows them retaining a razor-thin majority in both the House and Senate. You could ascribe their lack of boasts about this to either a lack of confidence or greater honesty.

* Me? I want to believe voters don't vote automatically on state offices based on the head of the national ticket. I want to believe people recognize the economy and circumstances are getting better (including from early aspects of Obamacare now in place) and that the Romney/Ryan budget plan bodes ill for a poor state like Arkansas. But the recent Arkansas Poll finding of a pronounced lean toward the Republican Party among independent voters is both believable and ominous for those hoping for good Democratic news Tuesday night. The statewide sweep of three minor statewide offices by unknown Republicans in 2010 was a precursor. The possibility that this reflex continues on down the ballot argues more for Republican confidence than Democratic confidence. Put me down as pessimistic. As usual.

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White County vote tally to be delayed

Max Brantley — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 06:37:59 -0500

Tabulation of White County votes will be delayed election night because of corrections necessary to the ballot on account of a screwup that failed to originally list the full name of state Rep. Tiffany Rogers of Stuttgart, a candidate for state Senate against Sen. Jonathan Dismang. Dismang lives in Searcy, in White County.

The Searcy Daily Citizens reported:

During early voting, commissioners placed printed notices in each voting machine that clarifies Rogers' full name. For Election Day, the commission created an entirely new ballot that spells out the name of Rogers and her opponent, incumbent State Sen. Jonathan Dismang, R-Searcy, in smaller font.

County Election Coordinator Leslie Bellamy explained that each polling site will have a results tape at the end of election day, which contains the number of votes in each race for each candidate or each side of an issue from that site.

Normally, Bellamy could take that information and, using a flash drive, plug that information into her already-existing database of totals. However, during this election, she will have to hand enter each of the results tapes into the database of election totals

At the Election Commission meeting, Dismang drew out that no individual complaints had been received from the 500 early voters who got a ballot without Rogers' name on the ballot.

No biggie, right?

Imagine, though, just for one second what the Koch/60 Plus/GOP noise machine would have said in a Delta county if a ballot carried the name "Sen. Jonathan Dis" instead of his lawful ballot name. Tim Griffin would have supported calling out the National Guard.

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Internal poll offers glimmer of hope for Herb Rule in 2nd District

Max Brantley — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 19:44:00 -0500

Yes, it's a campaign poll. Yes, it seems hard to believe given all that's gone before and going currently. But ....

The respected Little Rock polling firm, Opinion Research Associates, headed by Ernie and Zoe Oakleaf, has done a poll for Herb Rule's campaign for 2nd District Congress. Rule has told supporters that the numbers came back 45 Rule, 47 Republican Tim Griffin and 8 undecided. I have confirmed that number, but I have no indication of the questions, the poll sample size and makeup (the Oakleafs do telephone interviews, not robopolling) and other important information. However: A poll designed to test messages, and thus push respondents to Rule, wouldn't be of much use this late in the game for a candidate with little money to advertise a message.

Griffin has frequently polled beneath 50 percent. He replaced a popular Congressman Vic Snyder in a district dominated by a county, Pulaski, that votes counter to just about every policy position Griffin has espoused. To gain office, he beat a black liberal Democratic woman, Joyce Elliott, in a year when anti-Obama sentiment ran high. Griffin had schemed against a popular Republican locally, Bud Cummins, to remove him from a US attorney job so Griffin could grab it. He's a Karl Rove tool. He's not a charismatic candidate. He seems to think the campaign is mostly about a pipeline to ship Canadian oil to China, no matter the damage to the U.S. environment. If Rule's quixotic and mostly invisible shoeleather campaign could give Vote Cager Griffin, with all his bags of special interest loot, a run, it would be, well, nice. If unbelievable.

I'm trying to get a little more info on the poll.

At this point, about all you can do is vote.

UPDATE: The campaign cleared Ernie Oakleaf to talk to me about the poll. It was simple horse race poll done Oct. 24-25. It asked a preference between Rule and Griffin from a random sample of 244 Second District voters — likely voters based on their vote frequency on a list of registered voters. The sample is admittedly small and it was admittedly commissioned by the campaign. The margin of error on the poll is 6.4 percent. But Oakleaf notes that the overall sample is bigger than subsamples of larger polls that talk about, for example, splits on male and female voters and black and white voters. You might conclude from these results that voters in the 2nd District, which still is viewed as a Democratic district and which voted uniformly for statewide Democratic candidates in 2010, might be coming home to the Democratic candidate. Self-identified Democrats favored Rule 10-1, Oakleaf said. Black voters favored Rule 30-1. Pulaski voters favored Rule 55-39.

I think it's safe to say the poll came back even better than Rule partisans hoped. With the margin of error, who knows if it turns out that way or worse or, if we can dream, better? Also, the poll didn't ask about the Green and Libertarian candidates, but some of the respondents volunteered them, thus the 8 percent was both undecided and "other," Oakleaf said.

I'll only say this to Republicans who tend to dismiss all polls they don't like as flawed: Ask Gvernor Tommy Robinson or Senator Tim Hutchinson about the Oakleafs' polling work, to name a couple who dismissed results by Opinion Research they didn't like. They haven't stayed in business all these years by making stuff up.

UPDATE: Here's a summary Oakleaf provided to the campaign. With time and money — big ifs — there would certainly be room to improve the findings on a gender gap. Griffin is totally opposed to women's medical autonomy.

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Hispanic Caucus issues vote suppression alert

Max Brantley — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 09:40:50 -0500

A newsletter from the Third District Hispanic Caucus says a Springdale man who voted in 2008 is not showing up on voter rolls and that others registered this year are also not appearing in the voter registration system.

It has issued the following alert on voter rights, necessary to defeat the lapses — intentional or not — that have kept registered voters off lists. Vote suppression is real. Republicans are counting on laws they've passed to depress turnout of Democratic constituencies in swing states. Arkansas isn't a swing state at the presidential level, but suppression helps down the ballot here as well. Know your rights. A change of address, if challenged, doesn't disqualify you from voting, for example. (Something tells me Republican poll watchers will be looking a whole lot more closely at voters with certain defining characteristics than others.)

The alert:

Hispanic Caucus 3rd Dist
&
NWADBC

There are early reports of voter supression in AR

If they are doing it in a 'RED' state - imagine what they are doing in battleground states.

Got a call today regarding a gentleman who voted in 2008 and is not showing up in the rolls in Springdale or on 'voterview' site. There are also a number of people who we registered through our events - and whose forms were turned in as long ago as JUNE - that were not in the system.

We need to know what our rights are as voter and what we can do to protect ourselves. Below are some pointers that we should all know and share.

1. If you are not on the voting list — but know you are indeed registered, the polling place must contact the county clerk for verification. Once confirmed as an eligible voter by the county clerk — you are legally allowed to vote on a regular ballot. If the county clerk cannot confirm your registration, you can vote using a provisional ballot.

2. If your address does not match that on the precinct voter registration list you are still legally allowed to vote. You will need to fill out a voter registration form to update your information. After verifying your precinct — you may cast your ballot. If you are in the wrong precinct, you can receive a precinct transfer form from the poll workers and take it to your accurate precinct on a REGULAR ballot. If you decide to vote in the original precinct- you may do so on a Provisional ballot.

If you believe you have issues related to your address — we recommend you vote early at the county clerk’s office so you do not have to drive from one place to another on election day.

3. You have 5 minutes to mark your ballot and must be provided a "private location" (6ft buffer) to do so. When done, you must deposit it into the ballot box yourself and then immediately leave the polling location.

4. If you make a mistake on your ballot, have issues with a machine, report the issue prior to handing in the ballot or finalizing your electronic vote. You can receive a new paper ballot if you make a mistake - but must bring it to the attention of poll workers prior to inserting the ballot in the box. If your electronic receipt does not reflect your vote correctly - immediately notify poll workers.

5. You may bring someone with you to assist you if you are unable to mark your ballot for any reason. (That person can help upto 6 people)

6. If you are in line at the time of polls closing (7:30pm on election day) — you may still vote on a regular ballot. If voting is extended by a court order and you arrive at the polls after the regular closing hours, you will be allowed to vote on a provisional ballot.

7. Poll watchers

May only challenge a voter prior to them signing the voter list.
May only challenge on grounds that the voter is in the wrong precinct or that they voted already - in good faith (i.e. cannot ask for "papers")
May report irregularities witnessed to the election sheriff — but only discuss in detail if invited to do so
May make lists of people voting
MAY NOT be within 6ft of any voting machine or booth
MAY NOT address voters directly or in any way influence a voter within the polling site or within 100ft of its entrance
MAY NOT disrupt the orderly conduct of the election
If challenged as a voter — demand to know on what grounds. If not on the grounds stated above — you are still allowed to vote on a REGULAR BALLOT. Demand your ballot!

If a poll watcher interferes with your election process in any way. If they speak to you directly, come within 6ft of you while voting, or challenge your eligibility to vote for any reason other than the listed above — REPORT THE INCIDENT IMMEDIATELY. They must present an Authorization Form to the onsite elections officials. That form includes their name and the organization or candidate they represent- take their information from there. Take a picture if you can. Do not engage the poll watcher directly. Call 1-855-VOTE171 (868-3171).

Those who would intimidate and suppress your vote will count on you not knowing your rights. Stand up for yourself and REPORT THE ILLEGAL ACTIVITY!

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Block the Vote! A warning to Latino citizens

Max Brantley — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 12:20:43 -0500

The Arkansas AFL-CIO is calling attention to a civil rights organization's finding that there's a great likelihood of suppression of Latino votes in 23 states, including Arkansas, because of actions by Republicans such as Voter ID laws to discourage voting by typical Democratic constituencies.

The release from Alan Hughes is on the jump. It's aimed at some 48,000 Latino citizens who could get hassled if Republican efforts elsewhere are replicated here.

Here's a link to the full report.

Arkansas voters are asked to show ID at the polls, but are not required to do so. It makes the list because Republican Secretary of State Mark Martin has requested a Homeland Security list already used in Florida in an effort to suppress voting.

The Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) list of Homeland Security is used in combination with voter registration and driver license information. But the list is not comprehensive or accurate and the comparisons also are often flawed because of citizenship status granted after driver's licenses were obtained.

In Florida, the results were telling:

In April 2012, Florida initiated an admittedly inaccurate voter purge of alleged noncitizens. At least 82% of those on Florida’s April 2012 purge list of 2,600 registered voters are Latino, Black, or Asian American. In Miami-Dade County, where most of the targeted voters live, more than 98% of 562 people who responded to notice letters proved that they were indeed eligible U.S. citizens and thus mistakenly placed on the purge list.

Martin's office previously has been evasive about its plans for use of this data. I've asked again today for more specifics — have they received the SAVE list and how do they plan to use it?

There's no doubt what will transpire in future years with a Republican legislative majority — Voter ID, voter list purges and all the other tactics will be used to suppress unfriendly voter blocs to ensure a permanent majority.

UPDATE: Martin's office remains coy. From spokesman Alex Reed:

Yes. There has been no change. We have not received yet. When we do, we will review it, and make a determination then. Our office does not remove voters. That is tasked to the Clerks.

Sept. 26 - According to a report released this week by the Advancement Project, a national civil rights organization, 23 states including Arkansas have enacted legal barriers that disproportionately affect Latinos around voter registration and participation. In Arkansas, 48,000 Latino citizens of voting age may be disproportionately impacted by restrictive voter laws. Nationwide, the report found, these voter suppression laws and policies could keep more than 10 million American citizens from registering and voting in the 2012 elections.

The report, entitled “Segregating American Citizenship: Latino Voter Disenfranchisement in 2012,” also found that policies that supposedly are meant to purge non-citizens from voter rolls actually target and suppress the vote of naturalized citizens, most of whom are Latino. In Arkansas, out of 34,745 of naturalized citizens 39.28 percent are Latino.

“Voter suppression laws and policies threaten to relegate eligible Latino voters to second- class citizenship and impede their ability to participate fully in American democracy,” the report concludes. “Like African Americans, Latinos have experienced decreased access and correspondingly lower levels of voter registration and participation than non-Hispanic Whites.”

“The right to vote of every person is a core American value. Working families are appalled that these discriminatory and politically motivated policies would be employed in Arkansas,” said Alan Hughes. “Working Arkansans believe that every citizen living in Arkansas has and should have the right to vote regardless of ethnicity, class, or age. We call on elected leaders to ensure that’s the case.”

The report comes as millions of Americans across the nation participate in Voter Registration Day this week.

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State Rep. Hudson Hallum pleads wth 3 others in absentee vote fraud case; resigns from legislature

Max Brantley — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 15:15:47 -0500

UPDATE: The U.S. attorney's office has announced that four men, including Democratic state Rep. Hudson Hallum of Marion, pleaded guilty today to felony conspiracy to commit election fraud in Hallum's special election victory last year. The case charges paying for bundled absentee ballots.

All four appeared today in federal court and were released on their own recognizance. The others were Hallum's father, Kent Hallum, a car dealer; West Memphis police officer Sam Malone and West Memphis City Councilman Phillip Carter.

Here's the indictment.

It says Carter had used the same absentee ballot fraud strategy in other elections at the state and federal level. Carter organized others, including Malone, a Quorum Court member, School Board member and police officer, to participate. They identified people likely to vote absentee, based on past elections, and arranged to have absentee ballots mailed. They tracked the progress of mailing and completing the ballots and paid voters in cash and other ways for Hallum votes, as well as checking to see how they voted. In one case, $20 was provided for a "family meal" for eight. Ballots for opponent Kim Felker were destroyed. They also conspired to evade the law that limits the number of absentee ballots a bearer may possess. Hallum, who won the runoff by 8 votes, got 394 of his 880 votes by absentee vote. Hallum himself mailed bundles of the absentee votes his group had collected. The group also purchased half pints of vodka to distribute on election day. When questions were raised about the absentee votes, the Hallum group paid $25 each to absentee voters to affirm their votes for Hallum at an Election Commission hearing. The voters came from District 54, which includes West Memphis, Marion, Earle, and Turrell, Arkansas, as well as other rural areas of Crittenden County.

Said the indictment:

On or about May 22, 2011, PHILLIP WAYNE CARTER discussed the HALLUM campaign’s absentee ballot strategy with an individual known to the Attorney for the United States and stated, “Folk gonna vote for whoever pay them.”

Here's the news release on the case. Jane Duke led the investigation and was quoted:

“The most fundamental rights we enjoy as American citizens include the ability to vote and, if we so choose, to run for elected office. In a nation in which every person’s vote matters, protecting the integrity of the electoral process from those who seek to win office by cheating the system is critical. Voter fraud schemes such as that carried out in the 2011 District 54 race have the devastating effect of eroding public confidence in elected officials and disenfranchising voters,” said Duke.

Members of the House Democratic caucus received this e-mail from Hallum's address before the announcement:

Hello everyone,
It is with deep regret that I am sending this message out to each of you today. This afternoon I am going to plead guilty to federal charges stemming from an investigation into my special election. I took some bad advice that led to some bad decisions on my part. I am going to stand up and accept full responsibility for my actions. I am truly sorry because I know this news will have an effect on everyone's upcoming race. I would give anything to be able to change what happened but unfortunately I can not undo the past. Please accept my apologies and if any needs to contact me my number is 9013015650. It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve with each of you and our state is a better place for what you have done
Sincerely,
Hudson

Hudson Hallum
Chief Paramedic, Crittenden EMS
State Representative (D-Marion)

Sent from my iPhone

A Democratic Party spokesman confirmed to me that Hallum resigned from office today. Candace Martin issued this statement:

We are disappointed by the actions taken by Rep. Hallum. The sanctity of our elections and the rights of voters to see that every vote is counted fairly and responsibly are some of the basic, fundamental liberties of our democracy. No threat to those liberties can or should be endured. Hudson Hallum is taking responsiblity for his actions and we hope that will help resolve things in a way to see that such activities will never be tolerated.

Sentencing will come later after pre-sentence reports. The maximum statutory penalty for the conspiracy charge is 5 years imprisonment plus a potential fine of $250,000. The statements so far make no mention of inducements in sentencing for the guilty pleas.

The news release said special state prosecutor H.G. Foster will continue to investigate other potential fraud in the special election.

Earlier articles on a probe of illegal practices in Crittenden County have reported on a voice mail of someone offering to deliver absentee votes to the candidate Hallum defeated, Kim Felker. The man went to work later for Hallum's campaign.

Hallum was on the ballot unopposed this year until Fred Smith was nominated by the Green Party. Smith is the previous holder of the seat, but resigned after a theft conviction for stealing money from a school district. That opened the seat for Hallum. Democrats had successfully sued to keep Smith off the Democratic ballot this year because he carried the conviction when he filed. But the Green Party later nominated him and said it had no qualms about his qualifications. Smith has argued that a deferred sentence he received in the theft case meant he wasn't technically a convict.

Hallum's resignation creates a number of complications on the electoral front. It's too late for a special election for his now vacant House seat to complete this year's term.

Hallum is fixed as a name on the ballot. If he should win, the position would be declared vacant because he's ineligible to serve. Then there could be a special election for the seat. If Smith wins, no problem. Someone could also sue to stop counting votes were counted for Hallum.

An investigation is also underway of similar alleged absentee fraud in a recent Mississippi County legislative election.

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Crawford comes out against renewable fuel

David Koon — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 13:12:28 -0500

The Blue Arkansas blog notes a story in the Paragould Press last week in which Rep. Rick Crawford said he favors the elimination of renewable fuel standards — which would require 36 billion gallons of grain-based ethanol to be blended into gasoline by 2022 — and goes on to admit that eliminating the RFS would hurt corn prices on the commodities markets.

“The RFS is a key component of $8 [per bushel] corn,” Crawford said. “Somewhere we have to find that balance.... If we got rid of the RFS, there would be fallout in the market. But it is not as bad as some would say. You can’t take $8.25 [per bushel] corn.”

That funneling a significant portion of the nation's corn crop into hungry gas tanks has an impact on the rising price of corn isn't that big a shocker, but as Blue Arkansas notes, Crawford's remarks probably won't play well with the John Deere set.

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Has Jon Hubbard heard about this?

Max Brantley — Wed, 16 May 2012 09:25:49 -0500

Jon Hubbard, the unhinged Republican state representative from Jonesboro, is already near spontaneous combustion because the University of Arkansas allowed undocumented immigrants to speak on the University of Arkansas campus, with welcome from Chancellor David Gearhart. He's fumed further that the attorney general won't make a citizen's arrest of these Razorback desperadoes or otherwise opine on the awfulness of putting a First Amendment umbrella over illegal aliens.

What do you think he'll have to say about a joint venture whose sponsors include UA, the Northwest Arkansas Community College and the Springdale School district — public money recipients all — to train bilingual teachers to serve the growing Latino population in Northwest Arkansas.

Tax money being used to train people to speak Spanish? Somebody get Hubbard's medicine, quick!

Oh .... by the way: The Walton Family Foundation is chipping in $775,000 to the effort for scholarships. Another bunch of liberals bent on tearing down this great country.

Details on the worthy scholarship program follow. (PS — Teaching students in their native language actually helps them learn English. See P. 15 in this report.)

NEWS RELEASE

The Bilingual Scholars Initiative, a collaborative five-year effort of the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, the University of Arkansas, NorthWest Arkansas Community College and the Springdale School District, aims to meet the unique challenges — many in the education system — of the growing Hispanic population in Northwest Arkansas. The initiative, which focuses on scholarship support for future teachers, college prep programs and campus-based scholar chapters, will begin during the 2012-13 academic year.

“We think bringing together the educational players and the local Latino community in this four-way collaboration is right for mutual Northwest Arkansas community gain,” said Frank D. Alvarez, president and chief executive officer of the Hispanic Scholarship Fund. “Helping inform and engage Latino parents in the education of their children is an important competency, and HSF is pleased to have been selected to play our role.”

The initiative is funded in part by a $775,000 grant from the Walton Family Foundation.

The majority of the grant, $615,000, is designated to scholarship support. Much will go to students currently attending NWACC and the University of Arkansas who have identified themselves as education majors who intend to teach at the secondary level. Some scholarship support will also go to juniors and seniors from Springdale schools who have the intention of returning as K-12 teachers. The ultimate goal is to produce nearly 90 teachers over the next five years who will become bilingual teachers in Springdale schools.

Part of the grant will help support the initiative’s Steps for Success Program. Each half-day program offers a range of college preparation workshops for middle and high school students and their parents. This unique approach utilizes community volunteers as college prep coaches and has a customized track of concurrent workshops for students in each grade level with separate parent workshops in Spanish and English. The curriculum covers intensive instruction on how to take the SAT or ACT; information on the financial aid process; assistance writing a personal statement/essay for college applications and scholarships; and guidance finding a college well-suited to the student’s educational background and interests.

The Bilingual Scholars Initiative will also support two Hispanic Scholarship Fund Scholar Chapters — one at NWACC and one at the university — that are critical components of the initiative’s retention efforts. Scholar Chapters have been in existence since 2001, and they are geared toward the needs of Latino college students. Student coordinators at each campus work closely with Hispanic Scholarship Fund staff to customize programming — academic and outreach — to meet the needs of their respective campus and local community. The two Northwest Arkansas chapters will join the 37 existing chapters at colleges and universities around the United States.

“This initiative is a significant recognition of the value of bilingualism for America today,” said Luis Restrepo, assistant vice provost for diversity affairs at the University of Arkansas. “More than filling a translation need, these teachers will be living examples of the importance of multicultural perspectives in a multilingual world, where Spanish is a vital part of the fabric of the new American reality.”

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Candidates file for Arkansas elections

Max Brantley — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 10:28:10 -0600

Secretary of State Mark Martin's office says it will update candidate filing for state offices every 15 minutes after it begins at noon today. These will include legislative, judicial and congressional candidates. Local candidates will file at courthouses.

at this link.

The secretary of state Twitter feed will post each filing as it happens.

The Pulaski County clerk's office says its filings will be posted on-line. Here's the standard search page.

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Vote suppression truth teller

Max Brantley — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 07:05:19 -0600

It's self-evident that Republican legislation to suppress voting — required photo IDs, limitations on hours and alternate ballot methods — is about depressing turnout among traditional Democratic constituencies, including black people, students, the elderly and the poor. Evidence of voter fraud is scant. A far bigger problem is lack of participation.

Still, the Republicans claim higher ground in their dishonest suppression effort. So, in a way, conservative columnist Matthew Vadum is kind of refreshing. He makes it clear that he does not believe poor people should vote. It is, he said, “like handing out burglary tools to criminals.”

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