Early voting is underway at the Carter Day Training Center in Nashville for the Preferential Primary Election.
Eligible voters may cast their ballots until the close of the polls at 5 p.m. on Monday, March 4, the day before Election Day which is Tuesday, March 5.
Voters may choose Democratic, Republican or Non-partisan ballots, and some races like those for the Arkansas Supreme Court are non-partisan and are therefore on all ballots.
Republican ballot
Candidates listed for the party’s Presidential nominee include (in order): Ron DeSantis, Donald J. Trump, Doug Burgum, Nikki Haley, Ryan L. Binkley, Asa Hutchinson, Chris Christie, Vivak Ramaswamy and David Stuckenberg.
Other Republican races include: State Rep. Dist. 88, Dolly Henley, Robert Leslie Bradford and Arnetta Bradford.
Howard County Justice of the Peace Dist. 6, Elizabeth McDaniel and Josh Zylks.
Democratic ballot
Candidates for the party’s Presidential nominee include: Dean Phillips, Frankie Loxada, Joseph R. Biden Jr, Armando ‘Mando’ Perez-Serrato, Stephen P. Lyons and Marianne Williamson.
Justice of the Peace Dist. 9, Stacy T. Turner, Juanita G. Jackson and Margie Green.
Non-partisan races
State Supreme Court Chief Justice Position 1: Arkansas Supreme Court Justice Karen Baker, Supreme Court Justice Rhonda Wood, Supreme Court Justice Barbara Womack Webb, and Jay Martin.
Supreme Court Associate Justice Position 2: Justin Carlton D. Henry and Supreme Court Associate Justice Courtney D. Hudson.
Mineral Springs School Board District 3: Ricky Gamble, Nikita N. Hopkins, Kay Thornton.
There will also be an item for the City Council of Mineral Springs where voters will choose to continue at-large election of members, or change to election by wards.
Election Day
On election day, Tuesday, March 5, there will be four voting centers in the county at which any qualified county resident may vote. Voting centers will be open 7:30-7:30.
Voting places include:
Carter Day Center, Nashville.
Mineral Springs Methodist Church.
•Dierks Community Center.
Umpire Fire Department.
Pike County
The early voting process of the Pike County biennial preferential primary election will continue through next Monday, followed by election day on Tuesday, March 5.
Through late Monday afternoon, there have been 164 people – 103 in Murfreesboro, 61 in Glenwood — participate in the early voting process.
There are 6,224 registered voters in Pike County eligible for this election.
Pike County Clerk Randee Reid explained that – in her opinion — the lack of local contested races and viable presidential race candidates was likely holding the vote total down.
The past three elections have seen Pike County finish in the top five counties in Arkansas when ranked by voting percentage.
All voters will have to show identification, and make a choice of one of three ballot options – Democrat, Republican or Non-Partisan.
For those interested in early voting within Pike County, the process will continue the rest of this week at either the Pike County Clerk’s office in Murfreesboro, or the Bainum Library and Learning Center in Glenwood during the following hours:
Wednesday, Feb. 28-Friday, March 1: 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Saturday, March 2: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Monday, March 4: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Election day, Tuesday, March 5 will allow registered voters to participate in their civic duty at any one of the Pike County voting centers during the hours of 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
The locations of the vote centers include:
Murfreesboro – Murfreesboro Municipal Building
Kirby – Bethlehem Baptist Church
Delight – Delight School Cafeteria
Glenwood – Bainum Library and Learning Center
Clerk Reid reminds those voting in Delight that the cafeteria is a new location from recent elections, when the election was formerly held at the Carmen Hendrix administration building on the former school campus.
Absentee ballots may not be requested by mail as of Monday, but Pike County residents may still request one in person at the Pike County Clerk’s office through Friday March 1.
Also, anyone looking to switch registration to Pike County from another county in Arkansas, may complete the process through this Friday as well.
The Pike County election commission board is comprised of three individuals – Dr. Terry Hutson, Joan Hooper and Phil Terrell. For more information on the voting process in Pike County, please see them or call the Pike County Clerk’s office at (870) 285-2743.
On the Republican ballot, there are only three contested races, should a voter live in the correct district – U.S. President (nine names, but only two still actively participating), State Senate District 3 between senator Steve Crowell and Mark Silvey, as well as a Justice of the Peace District 1 contest between Randy Lamb and Roger Don Floyd.
On the Democratic ticket, the only contested race is for U.S. President.
The Non-Partisan ticket, which is also featured on either Republican or Democrat ballots, includes four candidates for State Supreme Court Chief Justice position 1 as well as a pair of candidates for State Supreme Court Associate Justice position 2.
Should a runoff take place in the State Supreme Court Chief Justice race – due to four candidates – it would be held as part of the general election voting cycle this November.
To view your exact ballot, regardless of your choice in vote centers, visit www.voterview.org” www.voterview.org.
