The Boone County Judges Race could be determined by a new rule passed by the AR Legislature instead of a runoff.

After adding up vote totals on Thursday night Boone County Election officials were not sure whether one local race would constitute a runoff or not and the answer may not come for a couple of days.

New legislation was passed in Arkansas that is known as the 40/20 rule in elections. Officials at the secretary of states office indicated that the new rule was only intended for general elections and not primaries, however, other records do not indicate that is the case and that the rule may apply to primaries as well.

There is one Boone County Race that could be determined by this rule and that is the race for Boone County Judge. The results in this race were as follows:

Danny Hall – 1,256, 20.21%

Robert Hathaway – 2,888, 46.48%

Bobby Woods – 1,893, 30.46%

Total Votes - 6,037

Under normal rules this race would result in a runoff because no candidate achieved the threshold of 50% plus one vote. However, if the 40/20 rule is applied then Robert Hathaway is the outright winner.

The rule says that to be determined the winner the leading candidate must first have 40% of the overall votes cast which Hathaway achieved with 46.48%.

Then you take the second place candidate’s vote total and multiply it by 20%. (Bobby Woods – 1,893 X 20% = 378.6)

Next you add that 20% total to the total votes cast for the second place candidate and compare it to the leader. (Bobby Woods - 1,893 + 378.6 = 2,271.6)

Using the 40/20 rule Robert Hathaway would be considered the winner because his vote total (2,888) exceeds the adjusted total for Bobby Woods (2,271.6) using the 40/20 formula.

Boone County Officials could not say for sure which way the race would be determined and they are waiting for legal advice. When that advice will come is not yet known, but it should be in the next day or two.

Boone County Runoffs will be held on June 21^st with five days of early voting prior to election day. The race for Boone County Constable North will be determined in a runoff regardless of the 40/20 rule determination.