Glitch postpones Manatee vote totals (FL)
Herald Tribune. November 5, 2008. STAFF REPORT

MANATEE - Election results in several local and regional races were not final Tuesday night because a computer glitch prevented Manatee elections officials from counting as many as 50,000 ballots.

The problem surfaced as officials were uploading results after the polls closed and they received an error message from their computer software, Elections Supervisor Bob Sweat said.

The uploading glitch prevented officials from entering all of the roughly 38,000 absentee ballots cast in Manatee, as well as votes cast in 9 precincts Tuesday and early votes cast in about 88 of the county’s 139 precincts.

The results of the election could be delayed in several races, including Palmetto mayor and commission seats, a Bradenton Beach commission seat and in the multi-county races for Florida House District 69 and the public defender’s post.

County officials contacted the Texas-based company that makes the software for their election machines, Premier Election Solutions, for help but were unable to fix the problem as of 11:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Officials decided to end attempts to fix the problem late Tuesday, and will get technical help this morning.

“They’re going to pick a new president before they know how Manatee went,” Sweat said late Tuesday.