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Senate committee to hear election dispute Tuesday, Mar 25, 2008 By Rob Moritz Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - In a first for the state Legislature, a Senate committee is scheduled to begin a public hearing Tuesday to decide whether an East Arkansas senator was legally elected to his seat. The Senate Committee on State Agencies and Public Affairs has set aside three days to hear evidence in former state Rep. Arnell Willis' challenge of results from the June 2006 runoff, which Willis lost to Jack Crumbly. "This is has never been done before," said Sen. Steve Faris, D-Malvern, the committee chairman. "We've had to sit down and put together the rules and regulations that are fair to both parties." The committee will hear a day and a-half of testimony from both Willis and Crumbly, then meet privately to make its recommendation to the Senate, Faris said. The Senate, based on the evidence and a report by the committee, will then decide later whether Crumbly can keep his seat. The last time the Senate expelled a member was in 1974 when Guy H. "Mutt" Jones Sr. was ousted following a tax-evasion conviction. The state constitution gives the Senate authority to consider allegations of election irregularities involving senators, Faris said. "This is new ground, we are really in uncharted territory," Faris said. "We will go into private and deliberate just like a jury." The committee is being asked to answer two questions, he said: Is there enough evidence to show there were irregularities in the election process? If there were, has Willis' lawyer met the burden of proof that any irregularities could have amounted to enough votes to significantly change the outcome of the election? Willis, of Helena-West Helena, said Monday he is eager to finally present his side of the story. "When my lawyer puts on the evidence, all Arkansans will not believe what happened. It's so shocking and so compelling," he said. Willis, a three-term state House member at the time, appeared to have won the June 2006 runoff against Crumbly, the Earle school superintendent, after the initial vote count showed Willis ahead by 28 votes. However, a recount put Crumbly ahead by 74 votes, and a second recount confirmed Crumbly as the winner. Willis filed a lawsuit in St. Francis County Circuit Court challenging the election results. The lawsuit was originally dismissed in 2006 and landed before the state Supreme Court three times before a special circuit judge ruled in February that the Legislature, not the courts, should decide who should occupy the Senate seat. Willis lawyer Mike Easley of Forrest City chose not to appeal the ruling. Willis said Monday that testimony during the Senate hearing will show that St. Francis County Election Commission Chairman Frederick Freeman, who Willis contends was Crumbly's campaign chairman, "stuffed the ballot boxes." Freeman did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment Monday. Crumbly also did not return a call Monday but said recently he was looking forward to the case being over. "I've maintained all along that I did not break the law, have not broken the law," he said. District 16 covers parts of Crittenden, Lee, Phillips and St. Francis counties. Crumbly's attorneys are Robin Carroll of El Dorado, Leon Johnson of Little Rock and Dion Wilson of Helena-West Helena. |
