Tolbert: Other Counties Also Experiencing Party ID Issue

I posted on Monday about an issue Washington County was having with early voting. The party affiliation of the candidates was not showing up on the screens.  The Washington County Clerk tells me today they were able to correct the problem by Tuesday.

But I am hearing today that at least two other counties – Pope and Boone – experienced similar issues.

Boone County seems to have had the same issue as Washington County. According to their county clerk’s office, the party affiliation did not show up on Monday, but they reported that the issue was corrected by the end of that first day of early voting.

Pope County experienced a similar problem, but apparently it only affected the governor’s race.

“I was made aware late (Wednesday) afternoon by Election Coordinator Sherry Polsgrove that there was an issue with the iVotronic ballots as to the Governor’s race not having the party affiliation listed.  The election commissioners called an emergency meeting (Wednesday) and met at 4:15 p.m. to discuss this matter and vote on how to handle the situation.  I did attend this meeting along with Pope County Judge Jim Ed Gibson and media from our area,” said Laura McGuire, Pope County Clerk.

According to emails from Polsgrove to McGuire, it appears that the issue will be corrected by Election Day but during early voting, they will post signs instead of making any software changes.

“The commissioners agreed that the notification to voters by a sign posted in each iVotronic used during early voting would reduce the possibility for errors than if media was switched out during early voting causing the need for the first days of early voting to have to be counted by hand on Election Day,” wrote Polsgrove.

It is unclear how many other counties are having similar issues, but if you hear of any, let me know.