By Erin Smith
Voting for the Primary Election is under way today in Bladen County but it is not without its glitches. A ballot snafu at the Lake Creek voting precinct this morning was quickly caught and corrected, according to Bladen County Board of Elections Director Cynthia Shaw.
“Whenever we distributed ballots to the polling locations, Lake Creek got a ballot style that was not for their district,” said Shaw.
According to one voter, the incorrect Republican ballot showed the Bladen County Sheriffs’ race and the Congressional District 9 race. Only one voter was given the incorrect ballot and the voting machine would not accept the ballot.
Shaw explained that the Chief Poll Judge Albert Beatty called the Bladen County Board of Elections office and stated the voting machine would not accept the ballot. Shaw said she asked why the machine would not take that ballot and it was learned the Republican ballot was the incorrect style for the Lake Creek voting precinct.
“The machines are doing their job,” said Shaw.
She explained each voting machine is programmed specifically to accept the ballot styles for that polling location. Shaw said if any other ballot style is introduced to the machine, it will not accept it.
Shaw said in the Lake Creek Voting Precinct there is one ballot style each for the Democratic, Republican and Libertarian ballots. However, in the Elizabethtown 1 Voting Precinct, there are three Democratic ballot styles and one each Republican and Libertarian ballot styles. Shaw said the difference is due to the way districts are drawn for each local, state and federal representative.
Shaw said prior to each election, the voting machines are calibrated, elections staff check to make sure the time is set correctly, and the elections staff run test ballots through each machine to make sure the machines are tallying the votes correctly.
Polls will remain open at all 17 precincts until 7:30 p.m. tonight.
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