“No relationship whatsoever,” said Johnson. “I just met Mr. Johnson.”

Soffer shouldn’t have been a poll watcher to begin with, the lawsuit claims, citing a conflict of interest and violation of state statute that prevents an election commissioner from serving as a poll worker.

“I have here on the podium, a copy of a form filed by the Jefferson County Election Commissioner and the Republican Party of Arkansas which allows someone who counts the votes, whose job it is to be neutral and impartial and count and report the votes, to also be a poll watcher and challenge votes,” said Burks during Wednesday’s press conference.

The lawsuit comes a little over a week after the republican-majority Jefferson County Election Commission held an emergency meeting alleging County Clerk Johnson was violating voter rights by setting up the county’s early voting location not in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Wednesday afternoon, Doyle Webb, chairman of the Republican Party of Arkansas released this statement:

Both Soffer and Johnson have been at the center of Jefferson County political headlines within the past year.

Pine Bluff Police were called to an Election Commission meeting where Soffer and a former election commissioner got into an altercation that resulted in Soffer grabbing his gun. A Freedom of Information Act lawsuit was eventually filed against Soffer in which he was later found not guilty.