Special election results in runoff

Reid Carroll won the popular vote after initially believing he had lost.

Karl Mounger had to draw a card to break a tie with Jerry Cavness.

Because no candidate for a vacant seat on the Siloam Springs Board of Directors won more than 50 percent of the vote during Tuesday's special election, a runoff between Carroll and Mounger will be Jan. 9, with early voting beginning on Jan. 2.

A website that publishes results of Benton County elections showed early Tuesday evening that Carroll had received 26 votes, while Cavness and Mounger each had received 28. With 100 percent of the precincts reporting, it appeared the latter two would be involved in a runoff. Turns out, that was the results of early voting and, once Tuesday's votes were added later that evening, final results showed Carroll received 86 votes (33.86 percent) while Cavness and Mounger each had 84 votes (33.07 percent).

"When I looked earlier in the evening, and it looked like all the votes were in, I thought I had lost," Carroll said. "So, I thought I was done with that chapter and we'll go on. Then, I looked again after 9 (p.m.) and it showed that I won, so I was very glad to see that."

A tie for second place in a three-person election set a precedent, so the Benton County Election Commission had to check with the county's attorney and the Arkansas Secretary of State's office to figure out how to break the tie. Arkansas Code 7-5-106 reads that ties will be broken by "drawing lots," but does not specify the method. The commission decided to have Cavness and Mounger draw from a deck of cards with the candidate who drew the highest card joining Carroll in next month's runoff election.

The seal from a new deck was broken open in front of both candidates, shuffled several times and the cards were spread out on a table. Cavness drew first, because his last name came before Mounger in the alphabet, and then Mounger.

Both flipped over their cards at the same time. Cavness drew a nine. Mounger drew a queen.

"This was the way it was and it made it interesting," Mounger said. "I believe we had three quality candidates with similar views on things and that's why it was so close."

Cavness said he's "going to keep on keeping on" with his involvement in numerous community groups. He said he was pleased with the process to break the tie, even though the results did not come out in his favor.

"My wife said I didn't lose, but I tied for second and just was not a good card player," Cavness said. "It is what it is. We were all good candidates and very well-known. Either one of those guys will do a great job. Their heart is there for the city, just like mine, so it all worked out for the good.

"But I'm all good. I'm happy and am proud to have been a part of the process."

Results showed 255 of the 8,174 registered voters in Siloam Springs participated in the special election. Siloam Springs Chamber of Commerce president Wayne Mays was disappointed with the turnout. His office hosted a "Candidate Forum" less than a week before the special election to help voters get to know the candidates better.

"I was not pleased with the turnout at all," Mays said. "According to the website, three percent of registered voters turned out. That is regrettable, but what can we do? We try to show interest in good government and get people involved."

Mays said the number who actually voted was about the same number of combined people who attended the forum or watched the livestream recording of the event on the chamber's Facebook page.

"The bottom line is it's like the school board elections and everything else," Mays said. "People are not engaged, they are not involved. So they are going to get the kind of government that they deserve."

Both remaining candidates said their goal was to increase awareness about the runoff election in hopes of increasing turnout.

Carroll, who moved to Siloam Springs in 1996 and owned Barnett's Dairyette for 18 years, said he wasn't planning to campaign much differently for the special election, but added that he's considering printing cards to hand out that reminds people to vote on Jan. 9. He campaigned on his motto of "Connecting the Wow," meaning that if elected, he wanted to explore ways to connect "all of the great things" about Siloam Springs.

"I would like to be the one who gets elected, but more than that, I would like to see our community get more involved," Carroll said. "Even if you don't vote for me, I would like to make sure you get out and vote for somebody."

Mounger, who serves as chairman of the planning commission, said he doesn't plan to distribute any more campaign signs than the 20 that his supporters put in their yards before the special election. He simply plans to "keep doing what I've been doing" by informing voters that he's the more experienced candidate.

"I've been here all my life and been involved in civic, county and state work since 1959," Mounger said. "But my main focus will be on spreading the word about the runoff and trying to figure out ways to get more people to vote."