Arkansas secretary of state candidates addressed election safety, the state’s low voter turnout and the importance of remaining nonpartisan in the elected position at the Arkansas PBS 2022 debates Oct. 18 at the University of Central Arkansas. 

Republican incumbent Rep. John Thurston and Democratic candidate Anna Beth Gorman arrived at a middle ground for the majority of the debate. 

Thurston of East End was elected as secretary of state in 2018. Before his election, he served as the Arkansas Commissioner of State Lands for eight years. 

Gorman of North Little Rock has been the executive director of the Women’s Foundation of Arkansas since 2016. Gov. Asa Hutchinson also appointed Gorman as commissioner for Arkansas’ Computer Science and Cybersecurity Task Force in 2019.

The candidates disagreed on the validity of the 2020 election, but agreed that election safety is a priority for them. 

Gorman said the 2020 election was “fair and sound,” while Thurston had doubts if the 2020 election was fair because of the different procedures and rules in each state — for example, some states have voter identification laws and others do not. Thurston, however, guaranteed that all the right procedures were carried out in Arkansas to where the results were accurate.

“We do want it to be easy for people to vote, obviously, but also hard to cheat, and accuracy is more important than convenience,” Thurston said.

According to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Arkansas had the lowest voter turnout and registration during the 2020 election. 

Gorman said these statistics prove that Arkansas has “made it extremely hard to access your fundamental right as an American to participate in the American election process.” 

If elected, Gorman plans to remedy this problem by working with the general assembly to bring online voter registration to Arkansas. 

Thurston agreed that online voter registration would be a good thing for Arkansas, but “is a legislative issue completely.” 

Along with certifying elections, the secretary of state also serves as a bridge for business owners to legitimize their businesses. Businesses have to be registered through the Secretary of State’s website. 

Since elected in 2018, Thurston said there have been 50,000 new businesses, corporations, nonprofits, etc. start up. 

Gorman critiqued the current Secretary of State’s website and said it was too difficult for potential business owners to navigate the website. 

The current “new businesses” tab on the Secretary of State website said, “Due to staffing shortages, all corporation/LLC filings are delayed.”

Gorman said, “Nothing about that or our website currently makes this an easy place to do business in Arkansas. We’ve got to improve it.”

With the issue of voter registration and the current website, Gorman said, “You can see where we’re not delivering on this office.”

Thurston agreed that the website, along with other divisions headed by the secretary of state, need improvement. However, Thurston said the most important thing to improve is Capitol security. 

The candidates agreed that the constitutional office of the secretary of state should be short of bipartisanship. 

“The role of secretary of state should be a nonpartisan arbiter of how we get things on the ballot,” Gorman said. “I’m going to do my job, and I’m not going to let my personal feelings on an issue, one or the other, shade or influence the role that I have.”

However, they said there are times to be a bully pulpit. 

With the 2020 election coinciding with the COVID-19 pandemic, Thurston released a statement that said Arkansas’ absentee process was adequate to accommodate any Arkansas voters. 

Thurston said, “There are times to speak out. But you do have to be mindful of when that time is.” 

Thurston declined to participate in the news conference that followed the debates. 

Early voting began Oct. 24 and will end Nov. 7. Voting sites are open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.