Early voting starts Monday in Primary

Early voting starts Monday in the Preferential Primary Election. In Boone County, early voting will be held at the Election Center at the corner of Central Avenue and Cherry Street in Harrison.

You can choose to vote in either the Republican or Democratic primaries. This doesn’t mean you are choosing a party affiliation. And it doesn’t matter whether you are register as a Republican or Democrat or even an independent (no preference).

However, if there is a runoff in the Republican primary and you voted in the Democratic primary, you can’t vote in the Republican runoff election and vice versa.

You can choose to vote in neither party primary and vote only in the non-partisan judicial election. In Boone County, the non-partisan ballot includes the race for state Supreme Court Associate Justice Position 2 between Judge Chris Carnahan, David Sterling and incumbent Supreme Court Associate Justice Robin Wynne, as well as the race for state Supreme Court Associate Justice Position 6 between Judge Gunner DeLay and incumbent Supreme Court Associate Justice Karen Baker.

The non-partisan judicial ballot will also include races for school board if you live in Bergman or Valley Springs.

Voters do have to show proof of identification to cast a ballot. This year in Boone County, poll workers can scan your driver’s license or state-issued photo ID to select your ballot.

One change this year is that you can no longer file an affidavit swearing to your identity if you don’t have identification. Election officials say you can vote on a paper, provisional ballot and the Election Commission will determine if you vote will be counted. You also have until the Monday after Election Day to take a form of ID to the Election Center if you didn’t have identification with you when you voted.

In Boone County there are more than 70 individual ballot styles depending on where you live.

The best way to see a sample ballot is to type www.voterview.org in the address bar on your internet browser, then enter your name and date of birth. It’s a service of the Arkansas Secretary of State.

Early voting will be held from May 9 through May 23. Hours are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays May 14 and 21. Hours are 8 a.m to 5 p.m. Monday, May 23. Election Day is Tuesday, May 24, when polling places will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.