THAT COMMISSIONER HAD AN ACTIVE FELONY CONVICTION AND SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ALLOWED TO VOTE OR HOLD OFFICE. 40/29'S BRETT RAINS WAS AT TODAY'S ELECTION COMMISION MEETING, AND SHOWS US THE BIG PUSH TO HAVE EVERYTHING READY FOR ELECTION DAY. <> "TODAY ELECTION COMMISSIONERS ELECTED A NEW CHAIRMAN, BUT SHE IS NOT TALKING TO THE MEDIA. ELECTION WORKERS ARE BUSY CHECKING EVERY VOTING MACHINE AND MAKING SURE THEY'RE READY TO GO." THIS WAS THE VERY FIRST SEBASTIAN COUNTY ELECTION COMMISSION MEETING FOR RANDY McFADDEN AFTER HE WAS SWORN INTO OFFICE A FEW WEEKS AGO. TODAY ELECTION COMMISSIONERS SIGNED OFFICIAL NOTICES, LETTING THE PUBLIC KNOW WHERE TO VOTE. THEY ALSO ELECTED CARA JEAN AS CHAIRMAN OF THE ELECTION COMMISSION, BUT SHE WOULD NOT ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS FROM THE MEDIA. (NATS...BRETT SAYS "CARA WOULD YOU LIKE TO TALK WITH US" CARA SAYS "NO THANK YOU.") <> "we test every race, every candidate in every precinct." "it will probably take us a couple of weeks to complete all the pieces of equipment." ELECTION COORDINATOR MEGHAN HASSLER SAYS WORKERS ARE BUSY TESTING ALL OF THE MORE THAN 300 VOTING MACHINES, TABULATORS AND I- PADS TO MAKE SURE THEY'RE ACCURATE AND READY TO USE AT THE 32 VOTING CENTERS AND 6 EARLY VOTING SITES IN SEBASTIAN COUNTY. OF COURSE IT'S ALWAYS BEST TO RESEARCH THE BALLOT ISSUES, BUT ESPECIALLY THIS YEAR. FOR EXAMPLE, ISSUE 4 ON LEGALIZING MARIJUANA, NEARLY TAKES UP THE ENTIRE PAGE AND IT'S NOT AN EASY READ. <> "some of the issues are very lengthy and the machines time out after five minutes so if you're standing in there reading continuously and depending on how long it takes you to read this legal jargon, there's always a chance your machine could time out." IF YOUR VOTING MACHINE DOES TIME OUT, YOU'LL HAVE TO START OVER. AND IF YOUR NOT SURE WHERE YOU STAND ON THE ISSUES BY ELECTION DAY, HASSLER SAYS... <> "we have sample ballots you can peruse at the vote center, look at, before you get to the machine and make your decisions before you're actually in the machine." <> "ON ELECTION NIGHT VOTES WILL BE COUNTED HERE AT THE ELECTION OFFICE ON SOUTH 4TH STREET IN FORT SMITH. WE'RE TOLD SAMPLE BALLOTS FOR SEBASTIAN COUNTY SHOULD BE POSTED ONLINE IN THE NEXT FEW DAYS. TONIGHT AT 6 - HOW MANY WORKERS HAVE SIGNED UP TO MAN THE POLLS AND IF IT'S ENOUGH. IN FORT SMITH BRETT RAINS 40/29 NEWS." NOW AN IMPORTANT DEADLINE FOR THIS UPCOMING ELECTION -- IF YOU ARE VOTING IN ARKANSAS, YOU HAVE UNTIL OCTOBER 11TH TO REGISTER TO VOTE