The Mcgehee Dermott The Times-News reported that the fate of the May 24th Primary Election Results could rest in the hands of the Desha County Circuit Court after a petition contesting the results from last Thursday.
According to Desha County Circuit Court records, the democratic candidate for Desha County Sheriff, Carroll Sirmon, is challenging the results, citing multiple alleged violations of laws governing campaigning and elections in the state. The petition formally lists the Desha County Election Commission as a respondent along with Commission Chair Kurt Sims, Commissioner Pam Blissitt, and Commissioner Tommy Peacock. Additional respondents named in the petition include Sirmon’s opponent in the Democratic primary, Mitch Grant, and two election poll workers.
Allegations in the petition include the Desha County Election Commission not properly listing early vote sites as per state law, poll workers not being properly trained, allowing convicted felons with pending fines to vote on non-provisional ballots, and paid campaign workers near polling sites soliciting votes in exchange for “checks” and “steak dinners”. It also alleges that candidate Grant violated state election laws by entering polling sites on early voting days wearing clothing with his campaign logo and his Arkansas State Trooper jacket.
The petition also alleges that poll workers did not provide Democratic ballots to voters who said they wanted to vote in the Sheriff’s race, a race that did not appear on either Republican or non-partisan ballots. It also mentions that the Desha County Election Commission’s vote tallies did not match tallies reported on state reporting systems.
Witness statements are mentioned in the petition from a number of voters that stated that they witness the alleged violations.
Desha County Clerk Valerie Donaldson also filed an official complaint with the State Board of Election Commissioners. The newspaper mentions her stating, ” It is my concern that the public was confused and did not know where to go early vote because of the different sites everyday voting was being held and there was no notice by commissioners that the courthouse was having early voting,” said Donaldson. ” There were too many mistakes to be a fair election in my opinion, Donaldson added.
