Recent action by the Baxter County Election Commission and County & Circuit Clerk Canda Reese will allow Baxter County to be ready for an expected onslaught of absentee voters in the 2020 General Election, slated for Tuesday, Nov. 3.Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced Thursday that concerns about coronavirus and the COVID-19 pandemic will be a valid excuse to vote absentee in the election, after consultation with Secretary of State John Thurston on Arkansas statute.”They just have a concern, a fear, of going to the polling place because of COVID-19, that’s enough of a reason,” Hutchinson said in a news conference. Thurston said last week he believed the state’s absentee ballot laws would cover those concerned about the pandemic.On Monday, the election commission approved the purchase of a machine to print customized absentee ballots.The status of absentee ballots were already on the minds of local officals, according to Reese.
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To address that absentee ballot issue and reduce costs, a printer to produce on-demand absentee ballots is on order, Reese says.
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Reese says she expects the ballot printer to pay for itself in less than two election cycles, as it eliminates the purchase of unused absentee ballots and reduces waste.
Another major topic of the meeting was safety for all of those involved with the election.
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The commission approved the addition of a third early vote center, housed at Election Commission headquarters, located at 213 East Fifth Street in Mountain Home. That location joins the Baxter County Courthouse and the Twin Lakes Plaza, located at 759 U.S. Highway 62 East, in Mountain Home as early vote centers.
According to the Secretary of State’s Office, the deadline for registered voters to request an absentee ballot by mail is Oct. 27. In-person applications may be obtained through county clerks’ offices through Nov. 2. Absentee ballots may be obtained through county clerks’ offices or on the Arkansas Secretary of State’s website, https://www.sos.arkansas.gov/, under the “Elections” tab.
Absentee ballots must be returned by 7:30 p.m. on election day. The deadline to register to vote in the November General Election is Oct. 5.
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