(Lander, Wyo.) – Fremont County Julie Freese tonight reported three precincts had voting machine problems during today’s election
Reclamation
In a news release, Freese said the Reclamation District called in a 6:45 a.m. and reported their machine was not working. Per County Election protocol, the judges were instructed to start voting at 7 a.m. and put the ballots in the emergency bill. They were instructed to tell the voters to carefully look over their ballots to make sure they didn’t over vote.
According to the release, Election staff brought a replacement machine to the precinct, proceeded with a public test of the machine and replaced the defective machine. Staff watched as voters began putting ballots through the machine to make sure they were functioning properly.
The ballots placed in the emergency box were to be counted at the close of voting.
Fort Washakie
At mid-morning, the Fort Washakie precinct also reported problems with its machine. Election staff gave the judges some tips to help with the machine, Freese said. The issue appeared to be solved so voting could continue, but since the machine powered completely down and they were one vote short (on the machine) to the number of ballots cast, the County Clerk, with the assistance of ES&S (voting machine vendor support) decided that we would bring another machine for the election judges to run all b allots over again on the new machine at the end of the evening. Freese reported that process could take about one hour after the polls close, so the Ethete results will be temporarily delayed.
Ethete
In mid-afternoon, Freese reported that the Ethete Precinct was experiencing problems with their machine. Election staff advised them on how to try other methods of voting a ballot. Finally, the election judges said the machine would not function properly. In consultation ith ES&S, it was decided that this machine should also be replaced. Freese said per county election protocol, the judges were instructed to have voters put their ballots in the emergency bin. They were instructed, as were the precinct workers in Fort Washakie, to tell the voters to carefully look over their ballots to make sure they didn’t over vote.
Election staff brought a replacement machine to the precinct, proceeded with a public test of the machine, and replaced the machine. Staff watched as voters began putting ballots through the machine to make sure the replacement machine was functioning properly. Ballots in the emergency bin will be put through the machine at the close of voting.
Freese said early voting was strong for this mid-term election. See that story here.