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Daniels: Primary turnout may have been lowest in state history Thursday, May 22, 2008 By John Lyon Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - Arkansas voters took an early holiday from the polls, possibly setting a record low turnout in Tuesday's state primary, Secretary of State Charlie Daniels said Wednesday. Preliminary reports from county election officials suggest balloting, or the lack thereof, may have eclipsed the lowest primary turnout on record, 19 percent of registered voters in 2000, Daniels said. "That's the first time we dropped down into the teens. I expect this to be lower than that," the secretary of state said. A dearth of presidential and congressional races on the ballot likely dampened voter interest, Daniels said. The state moved its presidential primary to Feb. 5 this year and no member of Arkansas' congressional delegation who is up for re-election drew a primary opponent. "Since there was nothing on the ballot except local races, I think a lot of people decided not to worry about it - which they should (be interested)," Daniels said. "The point I'm trying to make is that it's important to vote for your JP or your county official or state rep." The sparse turnout also disappointed groups that hoped to harvest signatures on petitions to put initiatives before voters in the November general election. Those who did cast ballots rejected some known political veterans. Pulaski County Circuit Judge Rita Gruber unseated outspoken state Appeals Court Judge Wendell Griffen in Tuesday's non-partisan judicial election, and former state Rep. Joyce Elliott bested incumbent state Sen. Irma Hunter Brown in the Democratic primary in Little Rock. As reports began coming in Tuesday of sparse activity at the polls, Gov. Mike Beebe said the lengthy presidential race may have been a factor. "The presidential election has been going on so long I think everybody's a little bit fatigued about it," the governor said. On Wednesday, Jefferson County officials said 8,791 people, or 18 percent of the county's registered voters, voted in the primary. In Pulaski County, 30,684 people, or 14 percent, participated. Turnout in Sebastian County was 5,383, or 8 percent. In Washington County, turnout was 6,080, or 7 percent. "The overwhelming majority of eligible voters chose not to vote yesterday or during the past two weeks of early voting," Griffen said in an e-mail Wednesday discussing his third electoral loss, including two races for state Supreme Court, since 2004. "I do not know why they did so; nor do I know whether, and to what extent (if any) my defeat can be attributed to displeasure about my legal victories in First Amendment litigation with the Arkansas Judicial and Disability Commission," Griffen said. The judge's outspokenness on current affairs has landed him in hot water with the commission that disciplines judges over the years. Last year, the commission dropped a complaint initiated against Griffen for, among other things, calling the Bush administration's slow response in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina flooding in New Orleans "racist," criticizing the president's nomination of John Roberts for U.S. chief justice and publicly endorsing efforts to raise Arkansas' minimum wage. Courtney Henry of Fayetteville defeated Ron Williams of Springdale in Northwest Arkansas, and Waymond M. Brown defeated Eugene Hunt, both of Pine Bluff, in Southeast Arkansas to win open seats on the Court of Appeals. State Democratic chairman Bill Gwatney said he always would like to see a high voter turnout, but added, "we'll get really concerned about turnout in November." Gwatney noted several spouses of elected officials lost election bids Tuesday, among them Linda Bisbee, wife of term-limited Sen. David Bisbee, R-Rogers, and Vickey Critcher, wife of term-limited Senate President Pro Tem Jack Critcher, D-Batesville. Linda Bisbee lost a race for a House seat to Duncan Baird. Vickie Critcher lost a race for a House seat to James McLean. Vickey Boozman, widow of the late state health director Fay Boozman, also lost a House race. "That kind of tells me that people are not so enamored with incumbency. I think they're looking for some differences, they're looking for some change," Gwatney said. State GOP Chairman Dennis Milligan said he was "proud of our team on both the state level, as well as on the county level." Republicans ran in more contested legislative primaries than in 2006 and 2004, he said. Milligan said former Gov. Mike Huckabee's involvement probably was a factor in the House District 48 race in which former Rep. Randy Minton of Ward lost to Davy Carter of Cabot. Carter had Huckabee's support against Minton, an outspoken critic of Huckabee's failed presidential bid. Tuesday's low turnout hampered signature-gathering efforts by supporters of proposed ballot questions. "I would be pleased if we gathered 10,000 signatures on primary day ... just because of the extremely low voter turnout that we encountered this year," said Jerry Cox, executive director of the conservative Family Council. The Family Council is seeking to collect 61,974 signatures to place a measure on the November ballot to ban unmarried couples from adopting or serving as foster parents. Jeannie Burlsworth, spokeswoman for Secure Arkansas, which is sponsoring a proposed ballot initiative that seeks to make it more difficult for illegal immigrants to receive public benefits, said she did not know how many signatures volunteers collected Tuesday. "There was low voter turnout at some polls, and there were some really good numbers at others," she said. Lt. Gov. Bill Halter said before the primary he had already surpassed the 77,468 signatures needed to place a proposed constitutional amendment creating a state lottery to fund college scholarships on the Nov. 4 ballot. Halter is pushing to reach 100,000 signatures by the July 7 canvassing deadline. ------- Reporter Rob Moritz contributed to this report. |
