An error sent out to county clerks across Arkansas could keep some who are eligible to vote from casting a ballot this November because they’re believed to be felons. The Secretary of State’s office got a list of felons from the Arkansas Crime Information Center. In the past, the office has received that information from the Department of Corrections, but according to law, the SOS must go through ACIC. That’s what happened this year, but on this first go-around, there’s a major issue. Larry Crane, the Pulaski County Clerk, says with months to go before the general election it’s busy. “My office and all of the clerks are going to work our way through this the best we can,” said Crane.
About a week and a half ago, he found out there’s more work to be done. He got a list of two thousand possible felons from the Arkansas Secretary of State’s office. His office now has to go through it all. “We have to work every one of those before the election to get the people an opportunity to come back in and say, ‘hey that’s wrong,'” said Crane.
Some can’t vote and others, for various reasons, can. “The person may not have done anything at all, and we’re finding out in some cases that is true. It’s an error, literally,” said Crane.
Chris Powell with the SOS’s office says the office got the list from ACIC. “There may be some errors in the system. We’ve acknowledge that that’s a possibility,” said Powell. “With any large data set, in which, humans are involved with putting numbers in, there may be some errors, but we’re hoping those will get worked out.”
Full Article: Old Felon Data Could Keep Voters From Casting Ballots – Story.