UPDATED: State Board of Election Commissioners Attack Searcy County Over Paper Ballots
Cole Jester Lets SBEC Run Shadow Investigation, Violate Its Own Rules
May 14, 2025
Update: May 14, 2025, at 12:30 p.m.
This story was originally published on May 14, 2025, at 10:49 a.m. On the same day, at noon, approximately one hour and ten minutes after publication, the investigatory documents were finally provided to an attorney for one of the Searcy County officials.
The original story is below.
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It is no secret that the establishment and Republican state government apparatus does not want paper ballots in Arkansas. Only two counties in Arkansas use paper ballots, Searcy and Independence. However, only one county has held elections with those ballots—Searcy.
This has drawn the repeated ire of the SBEC and the Arkansas legislature. The SBEC has hounded Searcy County’s election commissioners with complaints. The joint performance review committee barked at them prior to the legislative session. The State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee grilled them during the regular session.
Prior to the 2024 election, the SBEC’s position was that ESS machine conducted elections are 100% accurate (they are not, by the way), and that no hand counted election could ever be 100% accurate. Of course, the SBEC audited Searcy County after the 2024 election and found that the hand count was 100% accurate.
That fact, or maybe the Independence County resolution, has fired the SBEC up again. This time, the SBEC is running a shadow investigation.
Under the guise of an election related “complaint,” the SBEC is targeting Searcy County’s poll workers. It also issued a subpoena to the Searcy County judge for the election budget. It is doing all this without providing any copies of the complaint to anyone.
In essence, the SBEC is investigating, but will not tell Searcy County what they are investigating. The SBEC sent notices to all poll workers demanding information in the midst of an active election for school board—one being conducted by hand marked and hand counted paper ballot. It appears that the goal of the SBEC was to overwhelm the Searcy County election team to force mistakes with paper ballots.
Even more disturbing is the SBEC is violating its own rules. Its rules require that it provide the Searcy County Board a copy of the complaint. However, despite multiple requests to comply with their rules and even a FOIA request, the SBEC and its gaggle of lawyers are silent.
It is becoming clear that the SBEC is head hunting this paper ballot county but won’t say why. Remember, this board is chaired by none other than Cole Jester, a Sanders appointee, who wants YOUR vote for Land Commissioner.
Perhaps you wonder, like I do, why I would vote for someone who lets his own board violate the law and persecute good Arkansans in the shadows. That’s not someone I want running my government.
Also remember that this is a paper ballot county and Governor Sanders, when asked what she was doing about paper ballots, told President Trump that she was, “working on it.” Please take note that this is how she and her administration define, “working on it.”
Attorney. America First. Sued Hunter Biden for child support. Represented President Trump in the 2020 Wisconsin election challenge. Former attorney for the Wisconsin Special Counsel. An official “Tough Cookie” per President Trump.
Democracy is the foundation from which our Republic functions. It starts with the citizens. Citizens should not be attacked for wanting to participate and for wanting to participate the way they want to participate. Unless there is something inherently wrong with the way citizens want to participate, they should be supported and not attacked. The one thing we all know that is inherently wrong with Arkansas’s machine voting system is that it is controlled by a private, out of state company who will not allow Arkansas officials or citizens to examine the software that runs the machines. Many of our officials will be on the wrong side of history for this one.
papef ballots are just wrong. too open to fraud.