Lincoln Approved As Early Voting Site

FAYETTEVILLE -- Washington County voters will have four additional polling places available during early voting for the March 3 primary election.

The sites are part of what one election official called a pilot program to expand early voting in the county. The polls will be open for one or two days during the two-week early voting period instead of the full two weeks of early voting.

Washington County's Election Commission earlier this month approved early vote sites for the March 3 primary election. Jennifer Price, executive director, said the list of early vote sites for the election, with the dates and hours each will be open, will be posted at www.co.washington.ar.us along with other election information.

Lincoln Community Center, 112 N. Main St., will be open Feb. 27 and Feb. 28. The polling place gives voters on the west side of Washington County an alternative to voting in Prairie Grove, Fayetteville or Springdale.

Early voting also will be available Feb. 21 and Feb. 22 at the Springdale Civic Center, 2323 S. Old Missouri Road and on Feb. 28 and Feb. 29 at Elmdale Baptist Church, 1700 W. Huntsville Ave. in Springdale.

The commission also approved Price's recommendation to open a vote center in Goshen at the First United Methodist Church, 122 E. Ark. Hwy. 45. This will be a new center and also will be open for early voting on Friday, Feb. 28.

Bill Ackerman, one of two Republican party representatives on the commission, said the March 3 election should give the commission some information to consider when evaluating the usefulness of expanded early voting locations. He said the evaluation process will probably extend through next year's Nov. 3 general election as well.

"We are willing to test it in a couple of elections to get the hard data we need to make a decision," Ackerman said.