Early voting will occur in West Memphis following a decision late this afternoon from the Arkansas Supreme Court. And, in a bit of a surprise, the high court ordered the county election commissioners to hold early voting at an additional location within the city as well — a big win for access to the ballot in Crittenden County.
We’ve reported extensively on what’s been happening with this case, and you can read that reporting for the full backstory. Here’s the short version.
At their August and September meetings, the Crittenden County Board of Election Commissioners, made up of two Republicans and one Democrat, could not unanimously agree on a polling location for early voting in West Memphis ahead of the November election. Because unanimity is required, commission chairman Frank Barton III said there would be no early voting sites in the city.
County Clerk Paula Brown designated the Seventh Street Church of Christ in West Memphis as the clerk’s designated early voting site, pursuant to state law. The election commission disagreed Brown had the authority to designate the site and said they would not provide materials, equipment or staff to operate that polling location. According to the commissioners, Brown could only designate an early voting site within the county seat, Marion.
Two West Memphis voters filed suit against the county and the election commissioners in mid-September. They asked the Crittenden County Circuit Court to declare that early voting in West Memphis must be held at the Seventh Street Church of Christ but also at the First Baptist Church, because the election commission had authorized that location in 2022 and had not voted to remove it as an early voting site. They also asked the court to order the commission to carry out all required duties to make early voting possible at these locations.
Following a hearing, Circuit Judge Christopher Thyer ruled that Brown had the authority to designate the Seventh Street Church of Christ as an early voting location, and he ordered the commissioners to provide necessary support to operate that polling site. The judge stopped short of ordering the commissioners to hold early voting at the First Baptist Church, however.
The commissioners appealed Thyer’s ruling, arguing again that Brown lacked authority to designate a location outside the county seat. Because the commissioners’ notice of appeal and designated record on appeal were so narrow, the plaintiffs also appealed, so as to ensure the entire record would be before the Supreme Court. They argued Thyer erred when he said the commissioners did not have to hold early voting at the First Baptist Church because, according to the judge, the statutes were ambiguous.
Yesterday, another wrinkle was added when Attorney General Tim Griffin jumped into the case as well. Griffin filed a friend-of-the-court brief that argued Brown actually could not designate any early voting location that was outside the clerk’s office.
Today, in an opinion written by Associate Justice Courtney Hudson, the Supreme Court ruled overwhelmingly for the plaintiffs and, by extension, for ballot access in West Memphis. Three associate justices, Rhonda Wood, Barbara Webb and Shawn Womack, concurred in part and dissented in part.
On the commissioners’ direct appeal, the high court held Brown clearly had the authority to designate an early voting site anywhere in the county. While the commissioners and Griffin pointed to another part of the relevant statute that referenced the “offices” of the clerk, Hudson wrote, “no such limiting language is found in … the statutory provision that directly governs the authority of the county clerk to designate an early voting site before a preferential primary or a general election, and we will not add words to a statute to convey a meaning that is not there.”
The court did make one slight change to the circuit court’s ruling on this point. Thyer ordered the commission to conduct early voting at the Church of Christ “in the same or substantially the same manner as early voting was conducted at First Baptist Church (West Memphis) for the 2022 General Election.” The Supreme Court found this to be improper because the First Baptist Church polling location was established in 2022 by the commission, while the Seventh Street Church of Christ was designated by the clerk under a different state law. Instead, the court amended the commission’s responsibilities at the Seventh Street church to “only comply with the statutory duties and responsibilities otherwise required of it with regard to early voting conducted by the county clerk.”
Turning next to the plaintiff’s cross-appeal, the Supreme Court said the circuit court erred when it said the commission didn’t have to hold early voting at the First Baptist Church because certain statutes were ambiguous. According to the Supreme Court, the statutes were not ambiguous:
Rather, these provisions can be harmonized with each other. Pursuant to section 7-5-418(b)(1), the Board may decide to hold early voting at additional polling sites outside the one designated by the county clerk, if the Board chooses, by unanimously voting to establish additional polling sites. Once these additional early voting sites are established, however, they remain the same for subsequent general elections unless the Board votes to change the polling sites, as provided in section 7-5-101(d)(1). This interpretation is consistent with the plain and unambiguous language in each statutory provision at issue and with our primary rule of statutory construction, which is to give effect to the intent of the General Assembly. Mitchell, supra. Because the evidence presented in this case was clear that the Board did not vote to change the additional polling location it established for early voting in 2022 at the First Baptist Church, it remains an early voting site for the 2024 General Election.
Based on this, the Supreme Court reversed the circuit court’s denial of the plaintiffs’ request to have early voting at the First Baptist Church.
Justices Wood and Womack wrote dissenting opinions saying they would not have reversed Thyer’s decision regarding the First Baptist location, but even they agreed with the judge’s decision on the Seventh Street Church of Christ location.
It appeared from the outset that the Republican-led county election commission wanted to prevent early voting in West Memphis primarily to aid the candidacy of Tammi Bell, the Republican candidate for Arkansas House of Representative in District 63 who is the daughter-in-law of county election commissioner Anita Bell. Tammi Bell, who is white, is running for the legislative seat against Hughes Mayor Lincoln Barnett, who is Black. The largest city in District 63, by far, is West Memphis, where the population is 65% Black. Limiting voting in West Memphis only to Election Day would almost certainly benefit Bell, since it would prevent Barnett from building a lead in the district’s largest population center.
Here’s the opinion:
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(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)