16% of Clark County voters hit the polls in first days of early voting

By JOEL PHELPS | arkadelphian.com

Five days into the early voting period, Clark County citizens are steadily punching ballots ahead of Election Day 2024.

Of the 12,781 registered voters in Clark County, 16% had cast a ballot within the first week of early voting, a turnout that election officials project will surpass early votes cast in the 2022 election. Clark County has added 415 registered voters to its roster since 2022.

By Friday evening, Oct. 25, Clark County Clerk Tracy Rider said more than 2,200 voters had gone to the Arkadelphia Recreation Center to vote in person, while another 102 voters mailed in their ballots.

During the lunch hour Friday, a steady stream of voters trickled in to practice their civic duty. There was a voter at each of the half dozen voting machines inside the Rec Center, and poll workers were busy assisting eager voters waiting in line.

Describing the past week at the polls as “steady,” local election coordinator Diedra Middleton said an average of about 400 daily voters have cast a ballot at the Rec Center.

Clark County citizens have the option to vote in the election for nation’s president and Arkansas’s fourth congressional district, as well as a state Supreme Court chief justice, state treasurer and two statewide ballot initiatives. Locally there is a contest for the Caddo Township constable, as well as several races for a seat on the quorum court.

What appears to be drawing voters to the polls is a collective desire for change in the nation. Most who spoke to arkadelphian.com cited the economy as their main reason for voting in this election.

Amber Mehalic, of Amity, said the presidential election is what drew her to the polls, citing the economy as a top concern. “I’d like to see our economy get better,” she said. “It seems like everybody is struggling right now.”

Arkadelphia resident Dave Collins said he was mostly interested in a local race, namely the District 5 contest for Clark County Quorum Court. As for the presidential election, Collins said he was proud to cast a vote for the first Black woman to run for the Oval Office. Collins was also drawn to the polls to support the statewide Issue 2, a highly debated initiative regarding a casino license in Pope County (Russellville). “We need more licenses for casinos,” Collins said, “and I’m for anything that’s going to bring revenue in and create jobs and families.”

A local public school teacher, who wished to remain unnamed in fear of possible retaliation from her district’s school board for talking to the media, said the economy and immigration were her top reasons for voting.

“The cost of groceries, gas and everyday living has gone up immensely in the 3 1/2 years that [President Joe] Biden and [Vice President Kamala] Harris have been in office, and it is a concern especially for a one-income household such as mine,” she said. As for immigration, she said she hopes for strengthened security. “There has been too much violence,” she said. “If people want to come across our border and do it the right way, then I’m all for it; but not to come in and take our jobs and hurt our people.”

First-time voter Tyler Caswell, a Henderson State University freshman, said he went to the polls because he is “ready for a change” in the nation.

Most who have voted so far in Clark County are 55 or older. Longtime realtor Brown Hardman, who fits in that age group, said he wishes for resolve in racial issues. “I want this country to learn how to come together” regardless of race, he said, “and it doesn’t seem like that’s coming close to happening.”

Drawn to vote for the president, Hardman is convinced that neither a Republican nor Democratic president can claim victory or defeat when it comes to the economy. “There has been inflation for the past three or four years all over the world, not just in America,” he said. “I don’t think anybody can claim responsibility for that.”

Clark Countians’ reasons for voting are a reflection of voters’ concerns throughout the state. Arkansans said what drew them to the polls were concerns over the economy, reproductive rights and immigration, Arkansas Advocate reported at the start of the early voting period.

Nationwide, some 30 million Americans had cast an early ballot in the first week. Most of them, 56%, opted to mail in their decisions, according to States Newsroom. In Arkansas, a state with 1.8 million registered voters, more than 228,000 had cast an early ballot Friday. Of those, 95% voted in person.

Early voting hours are from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Early voting ends at 5 p.m. Nov. 4. Early voting takes place locally at the Arkadelphia Recreation Center, 2555 Twin Rivers Dr.

Clark County voters may choose from any one of nine Vote Centers on Election Day, when polls open at 7:30 a.m. and close at 7:30 p.m.