Voters in Pea Ridge lined up for the doors to open at 7:30 Tuesday morning but several left without voting as a there was a delay in opening because the tablets used to check in voters were not connecting to wifi. The first voter checked in at 7:44 a.m.
The polls were open until 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Pea Ridge School Board president John Dye was contested by Mindy Cawthon for the position 4 seat. Election results will be posted online as soon as they're available at http://tnebc.nwaonline.com and will be published in the May 29 edition of The TIMES.
Dye, a native of Seligman, Mo., graduated from Southwest Baptist University with a bachelor's degree in accounting. Dye, a certified public accountant, has lived in Pea Ridge since 2005.
Mindy Cawthon, a native of Rogers and graduate of Rogers High School, is the director of eCommerce Channel Development for InBloom Group Inc. She and her family have lived in Pea Ridge a little over 12 years.
Tuesday, there were new poll workers in place in Pea Ridge for the school election.
"They're new to Pea Ridge, but not to elections," said Kim Dennison, election coordinator, who said former Pea Ridge workers had retired and she pulled the election workers from Garfield to man the Pea Ridge election site. She said there was an issue getting the wifi to connect to the tablets used to check people in.
"I'm actually looking for new poll workers," she said.
Dennison said a new law was recently passed allowing 17-year-olds to work as volunteers during an election and that provides an excellent opportunity for schools to provide extra credit for students.
Poll workers must be registered voters and reside within the county where they work. The should be able to lift 30 pounds and have knowledge of computers as "everything is electronic now," Dennison said. The supervisor is paid $11 an hour and poll workers are paid $9.25 an hour. Workers are expected to be on site by 7 a.m. and open polls by 7:30 a.m. They must stay until all is closed and cleaned. Although polls close at 7:30 p.m., anyone standing in line at 7:30 p.m. must be allowed to vote. Dennison said that election days usually are 13-hour days, but during a primary or general election, can be longer.
"With the new voting equipment we have, it definitely speeds things along," Dennison said.
Dennison said anyone interested in becoming a poll worker should contact her at 479-271-1049 or by email at [email protected].
General News on 05/22/2019