FAYETTEVILLE -- The Washington County Election Commission approved a computer fix to correct ballots after discovering Thursday a downtown Fayetteville precinct was assigned to the wrong state Senate district seven years ago.
The error was finally found during the first contested state Senate race in either the right Senate district or the wrong one, commission staff said during a special commission meeting called for 7:45 p.m. Thursday to approve the fix. Voters noticed the race was missing from the ballot and informed members of the commission and staff, according to statements at the meeting.
The 54 precinct voters who cast ballots without Senate District 4 race on it will receive fresh ballots in the mail with just that race and will have until election day, Nov. 6, to turn them in. Early voting began Monday.
The contested race is between Fayetteville businesswoman Dawn Clemence, a Republican, and Rep. Greg Leding, D-Fayetteville. Leding represents the involved precinct in the House. Both Clemence and Leding will receive a list of the 54 voters who missed the race on their ballots, the commission decided.
Washington County's Precinct 34 is bounded on the north by Sycamore Street, on the south by North Street, on the east by Gregg Street and on the west by Garland Avenue. Jennifer Price, commission executive director, informed the commissioners present other precincts were checked to make sure no others were left off in a similar error. No other incorrectly assigned precincts were found, she said.
The precinct was put in to Senate District 2 by mistake in 2011, after district boundaries were redrawn following the 2010 U.S. Census. Neither District 2 nor District 4 has had a contested race since, election records show.
Commission chairman Bill Ackerman and member Max Deitchler approved the proposals, which were made by Price. Commission member Renee Oelschlaeger was out of town, Price said at the meeting. Ackerman noted having computerized voting machines allowed the fix through programming, so any voters from now through the rest of the election will receive correct ballot displays and printouts.
Clemence, who attended Thursday meeting, said she was pleased and impressed with how quickly a solution was found. She checked with commission members and staff at the meeting to make sure there would be no problem with contacting those 54 voters directly, and said she plans to send letters in the mail to them also.
Leding also said he was pleased with the commission's decision. "Once they found out about it they got it fixed as quickly as they can, and sounds like they found a way where those 54 people can vote," Leding said. "I'm as satisfied as you can be in a situation like this."
NW News on 10/26/2018