Early voting started Saturday in Volusia and Flagler counties, and to say the least, lines were long. In Flagler, 2,172 residents cast their ballots on Saturday, according to Flagler County’s elections website. Results for Volusia were not immediately available from supervisor of elections Ann McFall or on the Volusia website. At some early voting sites in Volusia County, lines were longer than expected, but not solely because of residents’ desire to vote. “We had scanner failures all over the county,” Mary Garber, a poll watcher with Florida Fair Elections Coalition, said.
She said ballots left by voters who were present when the machines failed would be scanned later, but without their presence they wouldn’t have any protection for overvotes, which can happen if additional marks are detected on ballots. “Overvotes are mistakes. People don’t mess up their ballots on purpose,” Garber said. Garber was frustrated that ballots where an overvote was indicated might not get cast if they weren’t inspected.
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