Arkansas attorney general argues early voting site not required in West Memphis

Griffin supports GOP election commissioners in appeal ahead of early voting start on Monday

By Mary Hennigan

Arkansas Advocate

Election officials in an East Arkansas county should not be required to conduct early voting at a West Memphis church because the county clerk acted beyond their authority, Attorney General Tim Griffin wrote in an amicus brief Tuesday.

Filed Tuesday afternoon in a state Supreme Court case that will decide if an early voting site will be available in West Memphis come Monday, Griffin supported the Crittenden County Board of Election Commissioners, whose members recently appealed a lower court’s ruling that required them to conduct early voting at the Seventh Street Church of Christ.

Griffin sought the Supreme Court’s approval to file the “friend-of-the-court” brief around noon, and the 10-page brief appeared on the state’s online court system about four and a half hours later.

“The Court’s decision in this case will determine whether State election laws are interpreted inconsistently with the text of the statute and current practice in counties across the state,” Griffin’s brief stated.

“The circuit court’s decision sidesteps the safeguards put in place by the Arkansas Legislature, disrupts the balance of power between the county board of election commissioners and the county clerk, and grants unfettered discretion to one county official. Worse, the circuit court’s novel interpretation arrives just before early voting begins, threatening the orderly administration of early voting in the State.”

Griffin continues to support the argument brought by commissioners’ attorney Joe Rogers that the county clerk cannot designate an early voting polling site outside of the county clerk’s office in the county seat, which in this case is Marion.

“This Court should reject the circuit court’s novel expansion of the county clerk’s authority and reverse its order mandating the [county board of election commissioners] to conduct early voting at the Seventh Street Church of Christ in West Memphis,” Griffin wrote.

Attorney Jennifer Standerfer filed the initial lawsuit Sept.

19 on behalf of Shirley Brown and Lavonda Taylor, two West Memphis voters who plan to cast their ballot in the general election early. They sued the three members of the Crittenden County Board of Election Commissioners in their official capacity, alleging that they refused to conduct early voting in the county’s largest city despite having designated areas.

Circuit Court Judge Chris Thyer heard the case at an expedited pace due to its potential effect on the upcoming election and on Sept. 30 ruled that Crittenden County Clerk Paula Brown acted appropriately when she designated an early voting site in West Memphis and called on the election commissioners to staff it.

Thyer also found that a separate contested early voting site was not required to be used this election and that the members of the local election board didn’t need to meet further to agree on additional polling sites. Thyer asked attorneys on both sides of the case to appeal his ruling to the state Supreme Court, which Rogers did on behalf of the election commissioners on Oct. 4.

The Crittenden County Board of Election Commissioners is made up of three members: Republicans Frank Barton and Anita Bell, and Democrat James Pulliaum.

Barton and Bell voted to appeal the circuit court ruling to the state Supreme Court, while Pulliaum dissented.

Bell is also the mother-in-law

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Photo courtesy of Arkansas Advocate VOTE

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of Tammi Northcutt Bell, a Republican candidate vying for the House of Representatives District 63 seat. District 63, which includes portions of West Memphis, is currently represented by Rep. Deborah Ferguson, a Democrat who is not seeking reelection.

Local Democratic officials have called the county election commissioners’ attempt to bar early voting in West Memphis voter suppression.

“I think it’s purely political, trying to gain the political advantage to get the Republican candidates elected,” Sen.

Reginald Murdock, D-Marianna, told the Advocate earlier this month. “They want to make it harder for voters, Democratic voters, to exercise their right to vote.”

Early voting in Arkansas starts Monday, Oct. 21.