TONTITOWN, Ark. — Tontitown's special election is currently taken off of the March 2024 ballot after the city filed its ordinance at the wrong office.
The Washington County Election Commission met on Wednesday to discuss the issue of Tontitown's Special Election. Election officials say they caught a filing error past the filing deadline.
"The paperwork had been filed in the Circuit Clerk's Office and at the County Clerk's Office," Executive Director Jennifer Price said during the meeting.
Mayor Angela Russell said that the city had turned the paperwork in on Nov. 22, 2023, to the circuit clerk and then refiled Jan. 9, 2024, to the county clerk. Their issues wouldn't make the ballot after passing the deadline, which Price said would have been Dec. 27, accounting for Christmas.
"The council had agreed to go ahead and take it for election—three different projects," Russell said. "One is for our police department; we wanted to purchase some land and start the works on building the police department. The second one was our water tower; we wanted to build a new water tower. And the third one was the park expansion in the community building."
Commission member expressed their sympathy multiple times throughout the meeting but decided to abide by the updated special election laws that took effect on Jan. 1. The ordinance for the special election had to have been submitted to the county clerk 70 days before the election. It must fall on the second Tuesday of March or November in a presidential election year.
City Attorney Justin Eichmann pointed out during the meeting that the circuit clerk, where it was turned into, and the county clerk sit just across the hall from each other in the Washington County Courthouse. It was one wrong turn that could cause the special election to be delayed.
Russell questioned why the circuit clerk had accepted the ordinance and the city hadn't been made aware of the error until it was too late.
"There was calls back and forth and emails. And I understand the election committee's ruling. I understand they're wanting to follow the law," Russell said. "But I feel like there should be some consequences to Washington County for not giving it back to us saying, 'I'm sorry, this is the wrong office.'"
"We had talked with a landowner, and they were going to wait until after the election in March and hold the property for us. And, so, this was devastating news for our police department and for the city as well, because we are so packed in here," Russell said.
Russell expressed that Fayetteville Officer Stephen Carr's death makes the city worried about their department's safety.
"It's critical that they have some type of screening or something for their cars," Russell said. "They are right here in the open right here on [Highway] 412. And it is very dangerous for them."
The updated law also allows for an emergency special election if three-fourths of the city council can determine that it's an emergency.
"Our city attorney is looking into that now to see if that can be done. And. hopefully, it can. If it can't, we'll just go ahead and move on to November and do the best we can with what we have," Russell said.
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