Phillips County recount in Arkansas House District 62 race does not change results

By: Tess Vrbin - November 22, 2022 8:41 pm

Phillips County Election Commission chairman Wayne Boals (left) and volunteer Sarah Williams (right) count how many absentee and provisional ballots the county received for the Nov. 8 election at the county courthouse Thursday, Nov. 17. (Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate)

A recount in Phillips County on Monday solidified State Rep. Mark McElroy’s reelection victory in Arkansas House District 62, according to the Helena World, Phillips County’s local newspaper.

McElroy (R-Tillar) faced Democrat Dexter Miller, a Phillips County resident who requested the recount Friday. He said he thought something was amiss in the initial results, especially since Phillips County has struggled to report its election results to the state.

The recount found two fewer votes for McElroy and four more for Miller, cutting McElroy’s district-wide lead from 218 to 212 votes but not changing the results.

Initial results saw Miller receive 400 more votes than McElroy in Phillips County. McElroy won Lee County and the portions of Arkansas, Desha, Monroe and St. Francis counties that comprise District 62. The redrawn district meant McElroy, a Desha County resident, had never run for office in Phillips or Lee counties before.

McElroy said Friday that he was confident in the initial results and did not see the need for a recount. Miller could not be reached for comment Tuesday evening.

The Phillips County Election Commission plans to certify the county’s results for all races and send them via snail mail to the Secretary of State’s office on Wednesday, the 15th day after Election Day and the legal deadline for certification.

As of Friday, the commission had not uploaded its election results to the Secretary of State’s website, as required by state law after an election.

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Tess Vrbin

Tess Vrbin came to the Advocate from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, where she reported on low-income housing and tenants' rights, and won awards for her coverage of 2021 flooding and tornado damage in rural Arkansas. She previously covered local government for The Commercial Dispatch in Mississippi and state government for the Columbia Daily Tribune in Missouri.