Computer glitch delays vote tally

By VINCE LUECKE
Editor

Machine vendor’s representative at fault, election board claims

TELL CITY - Mistakes made by a contractor representing the county’s supplier of electronic voting machines caused delays in tallying votes Tuesday night, members of the county’s election board allege.

Results were released at noon Wednesday, 18 hours after polls closed at the county’s 21 precincts. Tallies from 11 precincts were announced Tuesday night, but later recalled after the county’s election board learned that some absentee votes had been omitted.

Officials tried to solve the problem until nearly 1 a.m. Wednesday but recessed the process until Wednesday morning so a technician from MicroVote could be on hand.

MicroVote, the contractor from which the county purchased new electronic machines, sends independent contractors to assist counties with the vote-tallying process. A similar process was followed when the county used punch cards.

The contractor sent to Perry County Election Day may not have fully understood the system and failed to merge absentee ballots with those cast, County Clerk Debbie Weatherholt said.

“We had all of our ducks in a row. The problem wasn’t with us or the poll workers, but with the person sent to help us,” Weatherholt said.

The glitch created an hours-long delay as candidates, poll workers and others gathered in the courthouse commissioners’ room for the traditional vote count.

The first precincts arrived at 6:30 p.m., just 30 minutes after polls closed. However, the first vote results weren’t announced until 8:25 p.m. Shouts and applause erupted as Weatherholt walked in with the first tally sheets.

Ten other precincts’ votes were posted in the next 30 minutes, but the process was halted and the numbers recalled after the election board noticed some absentees were not being recorded.

Early results favored Democrats on the ballot, but some political hopefuls feared becoming too optimistic. Others behind in their races wondered if some of the missing votes would boost their prospects.

News of the problem sent some candidates and their supporters off to their respective political-party headquarters. Some candidates returned later in the night or early Wednesday. “I understand why it was so frustrating; we were frustrated, too,” said Pat Crawford, who serves with Weatherholt and Mary Kay Elder on the election board.

Todd Behler, a MicroVote technician, arrived at the courthouse Wednesday morning and resumed the vote count with the election board. Behler said the vote-counting problem was the fault of the company’s contractor, not of the voting process or the machines.

Weatherholt said she and board members “took our time” and ran new totals for each of the 21 precincts. By the time all the precincts were completed, ballot totals were reconciled.

We should have had this done by 8:30 (Tuesday night), not noon today,” she said. “But the vote count is right. We’re sure of it.”