Local

Clay County voter says machine wouldn't accept his ballot, had to be given new one

With more people hitting the polls early, some voters say they’re having issues at some polling locations.

More than a million voters have already cast their ballots through the mail, and election officials believe people hitting the actual polls could be near-record levels.

In the last presidential election, nearly 5 million voters cast ballots early.

One Clay County voter, Sam Gil, said the voting machine at a Middleburg location didn’t accept his ballot at first.

“She said when it was printed it was not printed correctly it was like a little bit off,” said Gil.

Clay County supervisor of elections Chris Chambless said there was a hiccup with the printer at that particular voting site.

“When the ballots were issued to the voters the ballots were unable to be read by the tabulator because it was skewed,” said Chambless.

But poll workers are prepared for situations like these.

If the ballot can’t be read by the machine, voters are given a new ballot and the invalid ones are eventually destroyed.

“We have a certified shredder company that comes here videotapes the destruction of that material we sign off on it, we provide that to the state,” said Chambless.

Chambless said a total of eight voters had to be given new ballots because of that issue and the problem was fixed on the spot.

“My concern is I don't know whether I voted once, twice, or not at all,” said Gil.

But Chambless assured voters about the accuracy and integrity of the process.

“The end game is to ensure that that citizen has a right to cast their ballot,” said Chambless.

According to Chambless, other reasons why the tabulators won’t read a ballot is if someone over voted, left everything blank, or if there’s a tear or marking on the edges in the areas the machine uses to read the ballot.

Overall he said the issue is very rare.