Ballot glitch has wrong candidates' names on Richmond ballot

09:24 AM EST on Tuesday, November 2, 2004

Associated Press

Wrong names appear on ballot at Richmond station

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) Some Election Day voting glitches already have been reported as the wrong names appeared on the ballot in one Richmond precinct.

At a voting station at Virginia Union University, voters said they waited as long as two hours due to the mixup.

Voters said that one of the machines included the wrong candidates for Congress. The ballot was supposed to include 3rd District Congressman Bobby Scott and challenger Winsome Sears. Instead it listed the 7th district candidates.

At one point, some voters were asked to use paper ballots but they said the ballots ran out. Voters also said the polling place opened several minutes late.

Angry voters stormed in and out of the polling place shaking their heads and many had to leave for work before they could vote.

It was unclear how many people might have voted for the wrong candidates and left before the situation could be corrected.

An election worker, who declined to give his name, described the situation as "minor" before he went into a police car.