Fayetteville Public Schools elections (2017)
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One of the seven seats on the Fayetteville Public Schools Board of Education in Arkansas was up for nonpartisan general election on September 19, 2017. In her bid for re-election, incumbent Traci Farrah ran unopposed and won another term.[1][2] Because the election was unopposed, it was conducted only by absentee and early voting ballots.[3]
With Farrah unopposed, the 2017 election was guaranteed to have a 100 percent incumbent success rate. The district's 2016 election also had a 100 percent incumbent success rate. Click here more for elections trends in the district.
Elections
Voter and candidate information
The Fayetteville Board of Education consists of seven members elected to five-year terms. Two members are elected at large, and five members are elected by district. Elections are held on a staggered basis so that one or two seats are up for election every year in September.[4]
School board candidates had to be U.S. citizens and residents of the school district and electoral zone they sought to represent. They could not be employees of the school district or have been convicted of "embezzlement of public money, bribery, forgery, or other infamous crime," according to the Arkansas Constitution. To get on the ballot, school board candidates had to file nomination paperwork, which included a petition with signatures from 20 registered voters in the school district, with their county clerk by noon on July 11, 2017.[5][6][7]
To vote in this election, citizens of the school district had to register by August 21, 2017.[7] Photo identification was not required to vote in Arkansas.[8]
Candidates and results
Zone 4
Results
| Fayetteville Public Schools, Zone 4 General Election, 5-year term, 2017 |
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|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Traci Farrah Incumbent (unopposed) |
100.00% | 4 |
| Total Votes | 4 | |
| Source: Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Washington County Clerk Becky Lewallen," October 2, 2017 | ||
Candidates
Traci Farrah 
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Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: Arkansas elections, 2017
The Fayetteville Board of Education election did not share the ballot with any other elections.
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for Arkansas school board elections in 2017:[7][9]
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| July 5, 2017 - July 11, 2017 | Candidate filing period |
| August 21, 2017 | Voter registration deadline for general election |
| September 10, 2017 | Voter registration deadline for runoff election |
| September 12, 2017 | Campaign finance reporting deadline for general election |
| September 12, 2017 - September 18, 2017 | Early voting period for general election |
| September 19, 2017 | General election date |
| October 3, 2017 | Campaign finance reporting deadline for runoff election |
| October 3, 2017 - October 9, 2017 | Early voting period for runoff election |
| October 10, 2017 | Runoff election date (if needed) |
| October 30, 2017 | Campaign finance reporting deadline for general election |
| November 30, 2017 | Campaign finance reporting deadline for runoff election |
Endorsements
Do you know of an official or organization that endorsed a candidate in this race? Let Ballotpedia know by email at editor@ballotpedia.org.
Campaign finance
Incumbent Traci Farrah reported no contributions or expenditures to the Washington County Elections Office in the election.[10]
Reporting requirements
School board candidates in Arkansas had to file two campaign finance reports for the general election. The first report was due on September 12, 2017, and the second report was due on October 30, 2017.[9]
If a runoff election was held for any seat, the candidates who ran in that election had to file an additional two reports. The first report for the runoff election was due on October 3, 2017, and the second report for the runoff election was due on November 30, 2017.[9]
Past elections
To see results from past elections in Fayetteville Public Schools, click here.
What was at stake?
Report a story for this election
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Election trends
- See also: School boards in session: 2015 in brief
The 2017 election was guaranteed to have a 100 percent incumbent success rate as the one incumbent whose term was up for election ran unopposed. The district's 2016 election also had a 100 percent success rate. One of the two incumbents whose terms were on the ballot ran to retain her seat and won. The other seat was left open for a newcomer. Two candidates filed to run for each seat on the ballot that year.
| School board election trends | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Candidates per seat | Unopposed seats | Incumbents running for re-election | Incumbent success rate | Seats won by newcomers | |
| Fayetteville Public Schools | ||||||
| 2017 | 1.00 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% | 0.00% | |
| 2016 | 2.00 | 0.00% | 50.00% | 100.00% | 50.00% | |
| Arkansas | ||||||
| 2016 | 1.11 | 31.58% | 36.84% | 85.71% | 68.42% | |
| United States | ||||||
| 2016 | 1.90 | 34.05% | 71.31% | 82.39% | 41.04% | |
Candidate survey
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Ballotpedia invites school board candidates to participate in its annual survey. |
About the district
- See also: Fayetteville Public Schools, Arkansas
The Fayetteville school district is located in northwest Arkansas in Washington County. The county seat is Fayetteville. Washington County was home to an estimated 228,049 residents in 2016, according to the United States Census Bureau.[11] The district was the ninth-largest school district in the state in the 2014-2015 school year and served 9,503 students.[12]
Demographics
Washington County outperformed Arkansas as a whole in terms of higher education achievement from 2011 to 2016. The United States Census Bureau found that 30.5 percent of county residents aged 25 years or older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 21.1 percent of state residents. During the same time period, the median household income for the county was $43,524, compared to $41,371 for the entire state. The county poverty rate was 16.9 percent, while the statewide rate was 19.1 percent.[11]
| Racial Demographics, 2010-2016[11] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Race | Washington County (%) | Arkansas (%) |
| White | 87.3 | 79.4 |
| Black or African American | 3.5 | 15.7 |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 1.5 | 1.0 |
| Asian | 2.6 | 1.6 |
| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander | 2.3 | 0.3 |
| Two or More Races | 2.7 | 2.0 |
| Hispanic or Latino | 16.4 | 7.3 |
Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Fayetteville Public Schools Arkansas election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Fayetteville Public Schools | Arkansas | School Boards |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette, "School Board candidates in Bentonville, five other Northwest Arkansas districts to vie for seats," July 12, 2017
- ↑ Washington County Election Commission, "2017 Annual School Election Summary Report Unofficial Results," accessed September 19, 2017
- ↑ Fayetteville Public Schools, "Notice of Special Election," accessed September 5, 2017
- ↑ Fayetteville Public Schools, "School Board Members," accessed July 11, 2017
- ↑ Arkansas School Boards Association, "School Board Members: Board Candidates," accessed July 10, 2017
- ↑ 2015 Arkansas Code, "§ 6-14-111 - Candidate filing procedures," accessed July 10, 2017
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Arkansas Secretary of State, "2017 Annual September School Board Election Dates," accessed July 10, 2017
- ↑ Arkansas Secretary of State, "Voting In Arkansas," accessed July 10, 2017
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 2016 Arkansas Code, "§ 7-6-208 (2016)," accessed July 24, 2017
- ↑ Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Becky Lewallen, Washington County" November 1, 2017
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 United States Census Bureau, "QuickFacts: Washington County, Arkansas; Arkansas," accessed July 11, 2017
- ↑ U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, "Common Core of Data, file ccd_lea_052_1414_w_0216161a, 2014-2015," accessed November 16, 2016
| Fayetteville Public Schools elections in 2017 | |
| Washington County, Arkansas | |
| Election date: | September 19, 2017 |
| Candidates: | Zone 4: • Incumbent, Traci Farrah |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines |
