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Early voting starts with 350 |
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Wednesday, 28 March 2007 |
 Paul Liley of Benton gets ready to cast his ballot in the special election on a tax proposal to build a metropark for the city. Election officials said a steady stream of people voted Monday, the opening day for early voting. The election date is April 10.
“For a special election, this first-day turnout is huge,” Burton said, “particularly for an election involving only Benton voters. It shows a lot of concern by voters.”
By comparison, the first day of early voting in the November 2006 runoff election for Benton mayor between Mayor Rick Holland and former Mayor Mitch McDonald saw only 129 people cast ballots.
The highest total for any day of early voting was 293 voters, Burton said.
Burton said the fact that the current election involves bond initiatives instead of political candidates makes the two types of elections “hard to compare.” He said many of Monday’s early voters seemed to have strong emotions about the park issue.
Burton said early voting is becoming increasingly popular since its inception in 1995.
“It takes so much pressure off the polls and poll workers on that one day,” he said. “I see a time that when it’s election day, there won’t be much to it.”
He said early voting well for voters because “you get 15 days to pick your (voting) day.”
Early voting hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday at the Saline County Voting Center on Main Street in Benton.
Early voting continues through Monday, April 9. The special election is Tuesday, April 10.
Voters are being asked to consider two bond initiatives in the form of a half-cent sales tax.
One initiative is for 1/8 of a cent. Revenue from this tax would fund operation and maintenance of the proposed park complex.
The other initiative is for 3/8 of a cent. Revenue from this tax would be used to finance the sale of municipal bonds.
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