LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Election Day is a week away and this year, many Arkansans are trying their hand at casting ballots in ways that may differ from their past voting methods.

Many county clerks are reporting high numbers of absentee ballot requests, after COVID-19 was approved as a reason to vote absentee.

Those requests must be received by county clerks' offices by tomorrow, Oct. 27.

Larry Larson of Little Rock typically votes in person, but due to the pandemic, said he and his wife requested absentee ballots. He explained it was a simple and secure process.

"There's been a lot of news about the ballot not being safe, or being lost or thrown away, or burned or whatever else," Larson stated. "But being able to track it online made it a lot safer, a lot easier and took some of the worry out of it."

People who want to vote in person but would rather avoid long lines on Election Day can vote early at local polling sites through Monday, Nov. 2.

According to the Arkansas Secretary of State's Office, 277,000 ballots were cast in the first four days of early voting this year, compared to 192,000 in 2016.

Ness Nehus, associate state director for advocacy for AARP Arkansas, said she plans to vote early as well, and recommends doing so as soon as possible.

"And so, if you do go vote in person, you may encounter other people voting who do not wear a mask," Nehus cautioned. "And so, if you have a particular health risk profile, or if you're very concerned about COVID, then absentee voting is really your safest option, in terms of minimizing exposure."

Larson reminded fellow Arkansans that they must bring a photo ID to the polls, and he encouraged folks to research their voting choices ahead of time.

"It's important to know all the issues on the ballot and any local issues," Larson urged. "Make sure that you are aware of them because usually, they're not well spelled out on the ballot itself. So, it's a lot easier to go in and be able to vote, and do so quickly and safely."

Absentee ballots sent by mail must be received by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day. Or they can be dropped off at the county clerk's office by Monday, Nov. 2.

Information on absentee voting and ballot tracking, early voting locations and hours, as well as sample ballots, all can be found through the Secretary of State's website sos.arkansas.gov.

A new report showed turnover among California chief election officials reached 57% in 2022, a record high. It then declined this year to 40%.

Researchers at the University of California-Los Angeles partnered with the Bipartisan Policy Center to analyze the data from 18,000 jurisdictions nationwide.

Rachel Orey, senior associate director of the Elections Project for the Bipartisan Policy Center, said the jobs of election workers have become significantly harder in recent years.

"Today, election officials must manage everything from cybersecurity risks posed by foreign adversaries to people who are doubting the outcome of elections, to information technology, legal disputes, political pressures," Orey outlined.

The turnover rate is defined as the percentage of jurisdictions in a state where the chief local election official changed within the prior four years. It has been an issue in California for decades. The turnover rate stood at 41% back in 2004. But things got much worse after 2020, when election officials became targets of threats and harassment, often spurred by former President Donald Trump's evidence-free claims about a rigged election.

Orey noted she expects this year's presidential election to go smoothly, because dozens of states, including California, have done a lot to "beef up" the elections workforce.

"Sixty-five percent of local election officials have experience running a presidential election," Orey pointed out. "Where there are new officials, we find that they have an average of eight years of experience in an election office. So all in all, we see that election officials are well-prepared to administer the 2024 presidential election."

The report recommended better funding for elections offices, higher salaries and more training in order to attract and retain a highly skilled election workforce.

Support for this reporting was provided by The Carnegie Corporation of New York.


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North Dakota's June 11 primary is inching closer and those running for legislative seats are trying to win over voters, including Native American candidates who are part of a movement energized by newly drawn political boundaries.

The organization North Dakota Native Vote said there are seven candidates with Indigenous roots seeking spots in the Legislature. Most are running in District 9, which was recently updated to reflect representation needs for two Native American tribes.

Natasha Gourd, a board member of North Dakota Native Vote, described them as a good mixture of candidates coming from both reservations in the area, with some running as Democrats and others as Republicans.

"We've seen an upturn in participation and just getting leadership development through Native candidates," Gourd observed.

The election wave comes after the state saw 10 Native candidates in legislative races two years ago. For her group, Gourd acknowledged the boost can be tricky because they cannot endorse everyone running. But she noted having greater assurances the areas will be represented by people from their community -- no matter if they have a different stance on certain issues -- is still a positive.

Gourd added trying to build on the momentum is also important for off-reservation districts.

"What they do at the state level, regardless of Native American people in North Dakota (being part of) federally recognized tribes, it does affect us," Gourd pointed out. "Most Natives in North Dakota do live off the reservation, so it does affect our populations."

Gourd stressed they need more Native voices at the state level speaking out about priorities within education, the housing crisis, energy issues and health care. She hopes the positive trends they're seeing inspire more civic participation among other racial and ethnic groups trying to get a seat at the policy table in North Dakota.

A new poll finds a near 20-year low in the number of voters who say they have a high interest in the 2024 election, with a majority saying they hold negative views of both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. A group of Arizona elections officials and experts recently gathered to discuss the growing discontent with the state's current electoral landscape.

Stephen Richer, Maricopa County Recorder, said that if politicians are what he calls "single-minded seekers of re-election," he contends the state should change the political incentive structure.

"And if those incentives will change, then maybe we will be talking about more things in the Arizona Voter's Agenda and less things that are currently right now incentivized by what I still believe to be a minority, but a very passionate, very loud, and a minority that is definitely committed to acting on those issues," he said.

Richer added it is important to remember that despite Independent and unaffiliated voters being able to participate in the July 30th statewide primary, they were excluded from the state's March Presidential Preference Election, and that has caught the eye of some in the state. The bipartisan group Make Elections Fair Arizona is pushing for open primaries, but proponents of closed primaries believe they're crucial to maintaining the integrity of party ideals.

Amanda Burke, executive vice president with the non-partisan, nonprofit organization Center for the Future of Arizona, said more than half of unaffiliated voters do not feel they have leaders or candidates running who speak to the issues and causes they care about. She contends that then translates to who decides to show up at the ballot box and vote, and encourages Arizonans to imagine a different primary system if they want different outcomes.

"Otherwise we are going to continue to have some more outcomes in terms of people who are incentivized to speak to a small percentage of their base on either side who are really not representative of the larger views," she explained.

The Grand Canyon State allows voter-initiated amendments to the state constitution, but the Arizona Require Partisan Primary Elections Amendment would add the state's current primary practice to the state constitution, prohibiting future changes without another constitutional amendment. Make Elections Fair Arizona is still collecting signatures to get its measure on the November ballot.


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