Ada County elections officials have stopped short of calling it the first “glitch” in the county’s new $1.6 million voting tabulation system, but it’s definitely on the books as a programming error. Routine testing leading up to the Tuesday’s primary election identified that the first mailing of absentee ballots did not have the correct identifying marks needed to be read by the tabulation software. This first mailing took place on March 30th and included 2,660 mailed ballots. All subsequent ballots mailed have the correct markings and they will tabulate accurately, said Chief Deputy Phil McGrane with the Ada County Clerk’s Office.
To ensure the accurate accounting of the votes cast on the ballots in question, Ada County Elections are duplicating them on to ballots with the proper markings. It’s unclear if they’ll have to duplicate all 2,660 absentee ballots. It depends on how many are returned, according to McGrane.
The duplication process is taking place place Monday at the Ada County Elections Office at 400 N Benjamin Lane, Suite 100, in Boise and should be completed the same day.
The duplication process will consist of multiple two person teams. One person will read the selections from the original ballot while the other marks a new ballot with the same selections, they will then reverse roles to ensure the accuracy of the new markings.
Full Article: Ada County absentee ballots duplicated after programming error | KBOI.