A printer’s error and a misplaced poll log left some voters wondering about the validity of the Ketchum city election last week, but county election officials say the process was not compromised. Rick Martin, a Buhl resident and campaign manager for Republican Precinct 8 Committeeman Scott Shane, said he was able to print “legal” ballots off of the Blaine County website before the election on May 15. “Someone had posted on the [county website] the PDF for all 16 Blaine County ballots,” Martin said in an interview last week. “I was able to print legal ballots.” The county posts sample ballots on its website, so voters can view the ballots ahead of time. Typically, these ballots state that they are samples, so that no one would mistake them for ballots that would be able to be cast.
County Elections Clerk Amy Rivkin said Wednesday that when the county’s ballot printer sent her the files, he mistakenly sent files that read “Official Republican Primary Election Ballot” instead of “Sample Republican Primary Election Ballot.” Those files were posted online. The error was corrected before the election, but Martin contended that the entire election could have been compromised. Michael Ward, Shane’s appointed poll watcher, reported that when the county went to count the ballots from one of the Ketchum precincts, the poll log that records the number of ballots and voters was misplaced.
Full Article: Idaho Mountain Express: Elections were legit, county officials say – May 25, 2012.