Early voting for Earle runoff starts Monday

Early voting for Earle runoff starts Monday

Election to fill vacancy April 4

news@theeveningtimes.com

The Crittenden County Board of Election Commissioners has issued a formal Notice of Runoff Special Election to be held to elect the Mayor for the City of Earle. Early voting will be available from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Monday, March 27, through Friday, March 31, and on Monday, April 3, at the Crittenden County Court House, 100 Court Street, Marion, Arkansas.

On Election Day, Tuesday, March 14, the polls will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the following locations: Earle City Hall, 1004 2nd St., Earle, Arkansas; and St. Luke Church, 520 Arkansas St., Earle.

The runoff will be held between political newcomer Judy Wiley, who emerged as the top vote-getter in a crowded seven-candidate Earle mayor’s race on March 14, and former Mayor Sherman Smith.

Wiley outpolled Smith 170 to 158, with another former mayor, Otis Davis placing a distant third with 41 votes.

Wiley recently retired from the wholesale glass industry after 41 years, most notably at Lewis Auto Glass. Smith was the city’s mayor from 1985-2006, and currently works as a grant administrator for East Arkansas Planning and Development District.

The candidates are vying to replace Carolyn Jones, who was recalled last November after only two years in office in a term fraught with controversy.

By the Evening Times News Staff