Hot Springs pillage

The election scandal that unfolded this week in Garland County, Arkansas, is even worse than I thought.

First, it was revealed that election officials in this Hot Springs-based bailiwick lowered the number of polling places in the Democratic runoff from 42 to 2. But now it turns out that one of these 2 precincts wasn't even accessible to most of the public!

That's because it was located in Hot Springs Village - which is said to be the largest gated community in the country. This polling station was located behind Hot Springs Village's gates.

If there's one thing you don't want to put in a gated community, it's a polling place. Polling places have to be easily accessible.

(I think gated communities should be outlawed, but that's another matter entirely. The city of Asheville, North Carolina, reportedly banned them a few years ago.)

I bet turnout at the Hot Springs Village polling station was next to nil - since there's probably only about 3 Democrats in the whole nation who live in gated communities.

True to form, Blanche Lincoln won Garland County in yesterday's runoff - even though Bill Halter carried the county in the May primary.

But it's not over yet. Now voters are planning a lawsuit against the county for trying to suppress their votes.