Election board reorganizes, looks forward to 2026 elections

The Pulaski County Election Board recently determined a new Chair during a public meeting on Oct. 8. In January, Aaron Hoover occupied the Democrat seat and Teresa Calloway served in the Republican seat. Since that meeting, both members have been replaced. Now, Jessye Gilley has returned to serve as the Democrat representative and Jon Frain, who served on the board several years ago, will return to the Republican seat. After some brief discussion, Frain made a motion to nominate Gilley to serve as Chair with Election Board Secretary JoLynn Behny seconding. It passed. Moving on to other business, the board briefly discussed new state legislation regarding filing the CFA-1 form (Candidate's Statement of Organization) for elected officials. House Enrolled Act 1679 passed this year, requiring that elected officials who earn more than $5,000 annually keep an active campaign finance committee throughout their time in office, regardless of whether they plan to run for re-election or not. Even officials who do not intend to raise or spend money must keep a committee open and file campaign finance reports. For those in local offices earning less than $5,000, a committee must be maintained if they raise or spend more than $500. Affected elected officials were required to file a CFA-1 form by noon on July 11.