(Getty Images)
The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday allowed Attorney General Tim Griffin to weigh in on a dispute over whether West Memphis should provide early voting at a local church.
Attorney Jennifer Standerfer, who represents two West Memphis voters who intend to cast their ballots early, asked the court Wednesday to strike Griffin’s “friend-of-the-court” brief filed Tuesday. The court unanimously rejected the request and accepted the brief in a per curiam order Thursday.
Standerfer’s Wednesday request also sought to allow both sides to file responses to Griffin’s amicus brief if the court accepted it.
Early voting in Arkansas begins Monday.
In September, Crittenden County Circuit Court Judge Chris Thyer ordered county election officials to conduct early voting at the Seventh Street Church of Christ, one of three contested West Memphis locations. The county election commissioners previously failed to designate an early voting site in West Memphis, the county’s largest city, leaving only one early voting site available in the county seat of Marion.
Thyer said in his ruling that County Clerk Paula Brown acted appropriately when she designated the West Memphis church as an early polling location and called on local election officials to staff it.
Griffin’s brief argues that Brown’s actions were a “novel expansion” of her authority and criticizes Thyer’s decision.
“The circuit court’s decision sidesteps the safeguards put in place by the Arkansas Legislature, disrupts the balance of power between the county board of election commissioners and the county clerk, and grants unfettered discretion to one county official,” Griffin wrote.
East Arkansas election officials appeal ruling requiring early vote location in West Memphis
Thyer asked attorneys on both sides of the case to appeal his ruling to the state Supreme Court, which attorney Joe Rogers did on behalf of the election commissioners on Oct. 4. The previous day, the commissioners voted 2-1 along party lines to appeal Thyer’s ruling.
The Crittenden County Board of Election Commissioners is made up of three members: Republicans Frank Barton and Anita Bell, and Democrat James Pulliaum.
Bell is also the mother-in-law of Tammi Northcutt Bell, a Republican candidate vying for the House of Representatives District 63 seat. District 63, which includes portions of West Memphis, is currently represented by Rep. Deborah Ferguson, a Democrat who is not seeking reelection.
GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.