HOT SPRINGS — Officials from Saline and Garland counties stressed confidence in the integrity of their voting processes during a committee meeting Wednesday at the Hot Springs Convention Center.

The county officials, as well as state election officials who also testified before lawmakers, rejected notions that elections have been stolen in Arkansas. They also pushed back against claims that conducting elections with paper ballots counted by hand would result in fairer elections.

The officials spoke during a a meeting of the Committee on City, County and Local Affairs at the convention center, where the Association of Arkansas Counties annual conference also was being held.

Their testimony came as residents in various counties have expressed concerns in some parts of the state about the security of the state’s voting machines, a fear that also has been seen in certain parts of the nation as the November general election approaches. Such worries have been rejected by election officials in many states, including Arkansas, who assert traditional voting machines are secure.

Saline County Judge Matt Brumley emphasized the preHenry

cautions taken to ensure accuracy by election officials in that county. For instance, electronic equipment is checked and preventative maintenance is done before every election, Brumley said.

The county was one of 15 randomly selected to be the subject of an audit conducted by the State Board of Election Commissioners to ensure their voting processes were handled with integrity and accuracy.

No discrepancies were found in the vote tally confirmed in the audit, a result matched in 13 of the other counties.

“This was not a surprise to us, but something we wanted to let our citizens know,” he said.

Only an audit done of the most recent primary election in Searcy County — which conducted its most recent primary election using paper ballots counted by hand — revealed an issue. Election workers there failed to count 11 ballots, which legislators noted may be enough to change the outcome of certain close elections.

Brumley also pointed to what he saw as a number of flaws with conducting elections using paper ballots counted by hand.

Some Saline County residents have long called for officials to stop electronic voting in favor of paper ballots, a move he and county election officials oppose.

“It is terribly unfair for our citizens, in a culture where election turnout is declining, to put them on ground that they feel is unsettled for some reason when they have the best possible system, I truly believe, and it’s evidence-based and it’s in a place that is 100 percent,” Brumley said. “And I don’t believe anything that’s less than 100 percent should be tolerated.”

The county judge said it took considerably less time for election workers in Saline County to accurately count more ballots than for workers in Searcy County to inaccurately count far fewer.

During the previous election, workers in Saline County totaled results in about two hours, he said. Searcy County officials spent roughly 22 hours counting theirs, according to Brumley.

The former county had about 11.5 times as many ballots to count as the latter, he noted.

Brumley also has described the use of paper ballots as more expensive, more time-consuming and less accurate than the county’s current system.

While results were totaled in about two hours during the previous election, a hand-count could result in a dayslong effort at a cost of $750,000 or more, Brumley said.

During general elections, Saline County would also have to bring on about 350 more people to aid the counting process alone, and that doesn’t include extra surveillance or rented space to accommodate the extra workers and resources.

“When you insert more and more human beings, you’ve just got to understand what your tolerance for error is going to be,” Brumley said. “Ours is zero percent. The question is what are others’ tolerance for error going to be?”

Saline County Clerk Doug Curtis likewise stressed the possibilities for error that could arise from the additional people who would be required to handle the election if it were conducted with paper ballots counted by hand.

“You cannot get rid of human error,” he said. “There’s only one perfect man that was perfect, and he’s not counting votes for us.”

Garland County Judge Darryl Mahoney said he believes his county, which operates under a similar process as that of Saline County, followed “the best system for election integrity.”

He said trying to find poll workers who would be needed if they were to shift to a paper ballot system counted by hand would be a matter of concern.

“I don’t know if any of you had tried to hire part-time employees — especially seasonal — it’s nearly impossible,” he said.

Sen. Kim Hammer, R-Benton, referenced a billboard in Saline County that asks if residents are “tired of elections being stolen” and whether the testifying officials had ever known of a time when an election was stolen in Arkansas.

Curtis, who told the committee he had been county clerk for 13 years and was president of the Arkansas Association of County Clerks, said the billboard “appalls me” because it casts doubt upon elections.

He received applause from many officials in the audience when he expressed anger over the way he has been treated as an elections worker.

“We have worked our tails off across our state to get this right, and when there’s something that comes up, that a question is asked that’s an accusatory question, it infuriates me,” he said. “I’ve been thrown out of the Republican Party for speaking the truth. I’ve been mocked, things said about the election commission that’s not true. And it is time to end this bull.”

State Board of Election Commissioners Director Chris Madison, who also testified at the meeting, answered the same question in a single word: “No.”