LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) - A THV11 viewer's ballot question turns out to be a potential concern for thousands of people in Arkansas. She wants to know why that, despite her Little Rock address, she couldn't vote for city officials.
Our Verify team dug deep to get an answer.
"My question was if I have a Little Rock address and I live here in Little Rock, why couldn't I vote for city officials?" Annette Prichett said.
She cast her ballot the first day she could early-vote, Oct. 22. She considered herself well-informed and was prepared to vote for Little Rock Mayor.
"I went through all the voting and I noticed I didn't see any city officials on there," Prichett said. She asked for help from election volunteers at the Dee Brown Public Library where she voted, but no one had a clear answer.
"I'm not sure. I just would like to know why," she said.
To verify, we confirmed that she does have a Little Rock address with zip code 72206.
"From what I understand she has a Little Rock address, but she doesn't actually live within the city limits," Pulaski County Election Commission Director Bryan Poe said. "So what it comes down to is the U.S. Post Office doesn't necessarily use political boundaries when they're assigning people addresses, and that means you can have a Little Rock address but also live outside the city limits."
And that's the case for Prichett. She lives in Southeastern Pulaski County, outside the city of Little Rock. To vote for city officials, well...
"You have to live within city limits in order to do that," Poe said.
So if Prichett doesn't live in the city why does she have the 72206 zip code?
According to the U.S. Postal Service, the zip code boundaries are determined to deliver mail more efficiently. They weren't made to correspond with city or even county boundaries. Because Prichett is in the county, but outside city limits, she can't vote for Little Rock officials.
Despite verifying an answer as to why, she still says its confusing and unfair.
"I don't think that's right because my address says Little Rock, Arkansas 72206," she said. "I just believe in voting and I would like to vote. If I got a voice, I would like to use it."