On Friday, Levi Woods, who currently serves as President of the Norfork Public Schools Board of Education in Position 2, filed a declaratory judgment against Baxter County Circuit Clerk, Canda Reese.
In his petition, Woods stated he planned on running for his usual school board position, but said there was confusion and discrepancies on which position was up for election in March. He said when he contacted Norfork Superintendent Chip Layne, they discussed the five position numbers and which one was up for re-election. Layne told Woods he had previously received a call from the Baxter County Clerk’s office inquiring which position was coming up for re-election and advised the clerk it was Woods’ position. Layne claims the Clerk’s office advised him of the new order for voting was 1,2,3,4, and then 5 with Woods now in Position 1. After these conversations, Woods stated in the petition he understood he would now be running for Position 1 in March.
Woods claims during his visit to the Clerk’s office, two staff members reviewed the election filings, including the petition requiring the signatures of 20 registered voters. Woods stated after ten minutes going through the documents, he claims the two staff members confirmed the election documents were verified and everything was good to go. Woods said a week later he received a call from Reese advising him the board position number within the filings was incorrect and he was disqualified from the election and would not be placed on the ballot.
In a statement to KTLO, Classic Hits and The Boot News, Woods says “I believe the voters in our district, not a clerical error, should decide who should be on the Norfork School Board.”
Woods is asking a declaratory judgment be ordered to the Baxter County Clerk to provide him the opportunity to cure the defective petition submitted by filing a new petition reflecting Position 2 along with obtaining the names of 20 registered voters in the school district and he be placed on the March ballot.
Layne also filed an affidavit in support of Woods’ claims.
In a statement to KTLO, Classic Hits and The Boot News, Reese states, “First of all, I am unaware of any discussion held with anyone from my office pertaining to changing the order of the board positions in Norfork School District, as has been alleged. When boards are initially established, lots are drawn to stagger the terms of the members. The order of the positions for Norfork has been consistent since prior to 2007. Positions can’t just be re-ordered, because other people are sitting in those other positions, and have been elected to a specific position for a specific number of years.”
Reese continues, “Secondly, Mr. Woods has served in Position 2 for the past ten years, so needless to say, when I went to certify the list of candidates for the primary, and saw that he’d filed for position 1, I was perplexed to say the least. I do wish that my staff would have caught that, and would have rejected his petition at the time he filed it. However, I have been unable to find any exception in the law that allows me to give Mr. Woods the opportunity to correct and re-file his petitions after the close of the filing period.”