‘A Terrible Decision’: Newly Elected County Delegates in Arkansas Disqualified by Established Republicans

A grassroots movement to get involved in the Republican party in an Arkansas county has been met with resistance from established seat holders who have argued that the process by which the new members won their seats wasn’t valid.

After 71 people voted out the current chair and delegate seats of the Pulaski County Republican Committee (PCRC) last month in Little Rock, Arkansas, state delegates at the Republican Party of Arkansas’ (RPA) state convention on Saturday voted in favor of the Republicans’ Credentials Committee’s decision to disqualify the new delegates for reasons those new delegates say are untrue.

The Complaint

Members of the PCRC alleged in their complaint (pdf) to the credentials committee that the election of delegates for the state convention held during the Pulaski County Convention on June 30 was fraught with irregularities.

They accused the newly elected chairperson, Lorri Justice, of having “no plan” while attempting a slate election with a preprinted list of delegates.

For the first set of ballots, they accused them of coding ballots for voting preference.

According to the complaint, the second and third set of ballots also contained errors, though the complaint alleges that despite the errors, Justice, whom they claim was acting on partiality, “allowed the ballots and the votes to continue so they would have their preferred slate of candidates in place.”

Response to the Complaint

In the response to the complaint (pdf) to the credentials committee, Justice wrote that the procedure was based on the recommendations given by officials within the convention as well as legal counsel.

All complaints were accommodated and resolved, with no complaints existing prior to the final ballot, she wrote.

On the accusation that the newly elected group had “no plan or process for proceeding with the election of delegates,” Justice called this “bellyaching,” and “not