Back-Up Ballots Missing in Key Republican Areas

I have recently confirmed media reports in NW Arkansas that Benton County is lacking their paper ballots for early voting. They need 90,000 and they have zero. They stated that "hopefully" they will receive them in time for early voting, which begins tomorrow.

Yes, the state will be using touch-screen, but the paper is what provisional ballots will be cast on, as well as be used as backup for the Ivotronic's. That means that if there are problems with the Ivotronic's (not unliklely) then Republican-leaning Benton County votes may in fact be disenfranchised next week due to a lack of paper ballots. We also hear that Saline is in a similar position, although we have not yet been able to confirm. It was reported in the Secretary of State debate that Baxter county missed their internal deadline for military absentee printing. A representitave from the SOS office subsequently chewed out Baxter county election officials for "leaking" that information.

Here is another note: All paper ballots cast in this election will be considered provisional...meaning if the Ivotronic's go down in a critical polling location or precinct then ALL those ballots will be considered provisional and could affect the outcome for one, multiple, and potentially even state-wide candidates if the problem is severe enough.

We will have some close races on our hands in three weeks. It is disturbing that many Republican counties are reporting the same problems. Perhaps this is just a function of us having better connections to Republican counties, maybe the problem is state wide. Either way, the consequences for the state would be terrible if we have a repeat of the May primaires and the June run-off election (the results were not officially certified until August).

Keep that in mind when you cast your vote for Secretary of State this year.