Close to 9,000 people had voted early in Jefferson County by the end of Friday. The doors were also open at the Jefferson County Courthouse on Saturday, and they will be again Monday.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported that more than 670,000 people in Arkansas had voted through Friday. That’s roughly a third of the 1.8 million or so registered voters in the state.
We are hardly alone. Across the nation, early voting has attracted more than 75 million people, including those who have mailed in their ballots.
There are not a great number of choices on the local ballet, but the selections are important. Pine Bluff will be electing a mayor and a council member for the 3rd Ward. (Our selection was Vivian Flowers for mayor and William Fells for the ward seat.)
The Jefferson County Quorum Court has two justice of the peace races that will be decided, and we are all aware of the problems the Quorum Court has had in simply calling meetings and taking care of business. There is also a race for a seat on the Pine Bluff School Board that is coming at a time when the district is moving further away from state control. And Redfield, Wabbaseka and Humphrey have some municipal races to tackle.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
There are also some interesting state items to consider, what with Issues 1, 2 and 3 and a battle for chief justice of the Supreme Court. One note — Issue 3 is regarding marijuana, and while it is still on the ballot, the votes for or against it will not be counted because of a state Supreme Court ruling.
Every two years, of course, all four of Arkansas’ congressional seats are up for grabs. And of course there’s that little detail of voting for a new president.
With all of the early voting days at one’s disposal, which amounts to walking into the courthouse, visiting with folks, visiting a little more, signing one’s name, walking down the hall, firing up the voting machine and getting an “I Voted” sticker for the lapel, we wondered why anyone votes on Election Day. We heard the answer from a couple of people who simply said they liked voting on the big day because they know the people in their precinct and liked to go in and see them and catch up. Duly noted. We’re all about catching up. And voting.
Just one more thought. Not that we pretend to predict the weather herein, but one phone app says there’s a 90% chance of rain on Tuesday, while a different one says 100%. And of course with the change back to normal time, the time God intended, it will be getting dark earlier. Rainy and dark does not sound like a lot of voting fun, and while Monday’s forecast isn’t much better, it is some.
However you slice it, you have today and Tuesday to get out there and cast your ballot. After that, you’ll have to live with that I should have voted feeling for years to come.