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Officials predict high voter turnout Tuesday |
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Monday, 04 February 2008 |
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By Lynda Hollenbeck Courier Staff When Saline County Clerk Freddy Burton and his staff arrived for work today, they found people waiting to vote in Tuesday’s Super Tuesday presidential primary election.
“We couldn’t let anyone vote before 8 o’clock because that’s what the statute says,” Burton said. “By the time we could let them vote, the line was out on the sidewalk.”
Only a few hours remain for anyone planning to vote early, he pointed out. Early voting began Jan. 29 and concludes when the Saline County Voting Center closes at 4:30 p.m. today.
The center is located adjacent to the Saline County Complex across from the county courthouse on North Main Street.
Arkansas is one of 22 states conducting presidential primaries Tuesdeay.
“The interest level now seems to be pretty high in this election,” Burton said.
“A woman who works in Little Rock got here at 6 o’clock because her husband told her there would be a lot of people and he thought that’s the time we opened,” Burton said.
“She waited on us and read a book,” the clerk added. “She had a good attitude. “People seem to be really wanting to vote in this election.”
He said he expects a large turnout on Tuesday. When the center closed Friday, 787 people had voted early and another 81 had voted by 9 a.m. today.
“The hours are different for early voting in every election,” Burton said. “The law stipulates the hours we can be open. We can’t be open before 8 and we can’t let anyone vote after 4:30.
“It will be different for the May primary election and the November general election,” he said. “We’ll have two weeks for early voting in both of those, and there will be longer hours.”
On the first day of early voting, 349 people voted in this county, Burton said.
Although 22 states are conducting presidential primaries Tuesday, Burton said earlier that a lot of people in the state were unaware that the primaries are earlier this year.
Arkansas traditionally conducts its primary elections in May and in presidential election years, the presidential candidates have been included on that ballot, he noted
The county has a total of 58,604 registered voters, Burton pointed out while noting that 50 to 60 percent of that number would be considered “a good turnout.”
The Democratic Convention is scheduled Aug. 25-28 in Denver and the Republican Convention is scheduled Sep. 1-4 in Minneapolis, Minn.
Secretary of State Charlie Daniels of Bryant said the state has seen a slight increase in the number of voters registered for the primary election this year compared to four years ago. As of last week, about 1.57 million people had registered to vote, compared to 1.54 million before the 2004 primaries.
Arkansas’ primaries are open, which means voters may cast a ballot in any party primary regardless of affiliation. Undeclared voters make up the most of the state’s registered voters.
Democratic Party of Arkansas chairman Bill Gwatney said he expected a high turnout for his party’s primary, especially with Hillary Clinton on the ballot. Clinton, who spent 12 years in Arkansas as the state’s first lady, has made a handful of appearances in the state during the past year and has stressed her ties to the state.
She’s also raised the most money in Arkansas of any of the candidates, including former Governor Mike Huckabee, and opened a campaign office in Little Rock last year. Democratic rival Barack Obama opened a campaign office in Little Rock in January.
Arkansas GOP Chairman Dennis Milligan, a Saline County resident, also has predicted a heavy turnout. |
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