ARKANSAS REPUBLICANS RAGE AFTER DEMOCRAT JUDGE ORDERS VOTING TIME EXTENDED
Tue Nov 05 2002 20:57:55 ET
Republicans' statement on judge's order:
Little Rock - Tonight the Democrat Party of Arkansas is once again attempting to steal an election. The Democrat Party asked a Democrat judge to extend voting hours from 7:30 until 10 p.m. in Pulaski County, a heavily Democrat county. The judge granted the request without consulting the Republican Party, extending the hours from 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 pm. The Democrats acted unilaterally, without reasonable notice to anyone.
The Republican Party believes in the right of all Arkansans to vote and the sanctity of the ballot. However, we also believe in the rule of law. Arkansas law provides:
7-5-304 Opening and closing polls - Time
"The polls shall be opened at 7:30 a.m., and they shall remain open continuously until 7:30 p.m."
Under Arkansas law, anyone who is standing in line at the normal poll closing time of 7:30 is able to vote. No one was to be excluded from voting if they were standing in line at 7:30 p.m. The Democrats are simply looking for another opportunity to change and manipulate Arkansas election law to their partisan political advantage.
The Democrats' request and the judge's ruling apply only to Pulaski County. The other 74 of Arkansas' 75 counties are unaffected and therefore are being treated unequally. The citizens of Columbia and Phillips County for example are being treated as second class citizens by the Democrat Party because they are not being given additional hours to vote.
Just a couple of weeks ago, in Clark County, we saw a Democrat Judge exclude Republican student voters in order to help out a Democrat candidate. The Democrat Party's shenanigans tonight in Pulaski County look a lot like Clark County. This is another example of the Democrat party doing
anything to get their candidates elected.
