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While details remain sketchy there appear to be some ballot problems in at least one Cedar Rapids voting site. The name of Democratic candidate for the Linn County Board of Supervisors, Ben Rogers, does not have an oval next to it.
This apparent printing error showed up on ballots today at Cedar Rapids precinct 39 — Franklin Middle School.
Rogers’s race against former Linn County Republican chairman Eric Rosenthal is expected to be close so this is already a factor. We await more information on the matter from Linn County Auditor Joel Miller.
Update –
Auditor Joel Miller reports that somewhere between 80 and 110 ballots were cast at Cedar Rapids precinct 39 before a voter notified precinct election staff about the missing oval next to the candidate’s name.
“Voters should examine their ballots to make sure they are complete,” said Miller.
At approximately 7:30 a.m. the Auditor’s Office delivered 278 replacement ballots to the precinct. An additional 800 were delivered an hour later by both the Auditor’s Office and the printer. Miller anticipates that even more ballots will be delivered to the precinct this afternoon.
The sample ballot posted on the Linn County Auditor’s web site does not contain the error.
According to Miller, all ballots for the precinct polling locations, as well as those for absentee voting, were tested and inspected prior to their issuance. The printer contracted to print the ballots has acknowledged the error occurred in the batch of ballots delivered for today’s general election.
Voters that find a ballot with a name but no oval should request a new ballot from election staff at the precinct location. At this time, no other errors have been reported on ballots in Linn County. Legal teams for the Democratic Party have been notified and are currently investigating the matter.
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