LITTLE ROCK — If only that guy from church had turned out to vote on Tuesday.
That was in the back of the mind of Charles "Chuck" Wise Jr., a constable in Miller County who got a whopping three votes in the Republican primary.
His opponent, Michael Griffin also got three votes.
Now one of the lowest votegarnering races in the state will be decided in a $1,600 runoff if one of the candidates doesn't withdraw, officials said.
Wise voted for himself. So did his wife. And a woman who they went to church with threw the race into a dead heat, Wise said. But the woman's husband, who pledged to vote for Wise, forgot to go to the polls, Wise said.
He suspects Griffin got the support of a similar electorate - himself, his kin, maybe a friend.
Griffin didn't return a message Wednesday.
"It's kind of a surprise," said David Orr, the Miller County election coordinator, about the tie. "Of course, that was the only thing on the Republican ballot."
The Democratic ballot by contrast featured four contested races including a heated five-way sheriff's race.
Voters inclined to vote Republican switched ballots so they could vote in the sheriff's race, Orr said, bringing the number of votes for sheriff alone to more than 6,500.
Orr said he plans to be in touch with the secretary of state's office and then to speakwith Wise and Griffin to determine how to proceed. He grimaced at the thought of paying poll workers to work a runoff. It was unclear when that would take place.
It's no surprise the constable race didn't garner much interest. The job comes with no pay and, by any measure, no glory.
When asked what kind of tasks he has performed as constable, Wise said, "not much," with a hardy laugh. Mainly he dispenses advice about how to deal with the law. He's also a school resource officer in Fouke and a retired sheriff 's chief deputy.
In Arkansas, constables with state certification can enforce laws. They are charged with keeping the peace and can be fined if they fail to do their job.
Arkansas, Pages 18 on 05/22/2008