Early voting for the 2022 general election starts today, and will continue through Monday, Nov. 7, the day before Election Day.
All early voting will take place at the El Dorado Municipal Auditorium, 100 W. 8th St., where early voting for the primaries was also held. Voting is open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays.
"I think because of the mayor's race and some of the local races, we'll get a big turnout," Union County Election Commission Chair Cliff Wright said on Friday afternoon.
Commissioners planned on Friday to meet Sunday – yesterday – to set up voting equipment at the auditorium, Wright said.
Wright emphasized the safety and integrity of elections in Arkansas, and particularly in Union County, which utilizes voting machines made by ES&S (Election Systems & Software).
"We use ES&S machines that are probably used in over 60% of all states in the U.S., and what makes them particularly secure is that nowhere are our machines hooked up to the Internet," he said. "The only place that's hooked up to the Internet is where you give your name, street, photo ID. As far as the other equipment, they are not hooked up to the Internet."
Additionally, he said, logic and accuracy testing on every machine before every election ensures that no votes from a previous election carry over into the current one.
"As far as the integrity of Arkansas elections, I don't know how it could be safer. There's so many checks and balances," he said.
On Friday, Wright was measuring a 100-foot perimeter around the auditorium to prevent electioneering, or campaigning, next to a voting site.
Wright also noted that the commission has recruited 106 poll workers for the election, and they are the highest-paid in the state of Arkansas, making $15 an hour.
"We take (a poll worker assigned to) each one of the wards and precincts and have them work one day of early voting, and the reason we do that is so that when Election Day hits, everyone that's working has had a trial run," Wright said.
To vote in this election, one must be a registered voter and present a photo ID when they go to vote. To check one's voter registration, visit voterview.org.
This year's election will decide who will be the mayor of El Dorado, as well as several El Dorado City Council and Union County Quorum Court seats. Voters in Smackover, Junction City, Huttig and Calion also have mayoral races this year.
Additionally, voters across Arkansas will choose a new governor to replace outgoing, term-limited Gov. Asa Hutchinson. Seats in the state legislature, including Senate District 2, which covers Union County, are up for grabs, as are the positions of lt. governor, attorney general, secretary of state, treasurer of state, auditor of state and commissioner of state lands.
At the national level are races to represent Arkansas in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. Union County is in House District 4.
Wright said anyone interested in learning more about local elections can contact him or one of the other two members of the Union County Election Commission, which includes Mike Hays and Floyd Thomas.
"If you don't get out and vote and make your voice heard, then you have no authority to criticize the election and who's elected," Wright said.
More information for voters is available on the Arkansas Secretary of State's website, sos.arkansas.gov/elections. To learn about local candidates in this year's election, check out the Voters' Guide in the Sunday, Oct. 23, edition of the News-Times.
An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that early voting closes at 5 p.m. on weekdays. Early voting hours Monday through Friday are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.