Floyd County election officials say nearly 600 voters received incomplete ballots, and they’re reaching out to people affected to help them cast their full vote.
The Floyd County Election Board met for an emergency meeting Friday afternoon to address a programming error that omitted the Floyd County Commissioners District 1 race from four precincts: Franklin, Greenville, Georgetown and Lafayette.
The race is between Republican incumbent Al Knable and Democratic challenger Ellen Morrison Kelley. The board said Friday afternoon they had identified 572 impacted voters.
They include people who voted early in-person between Tuesday, Oct. 6 through Thursday, Oct. 8. Absentee ballots were also impacted.
“The Election Board’s immediate priority is to provide each identified voter a lawful opportunity to vote in the omitted race,” according to a news release provided by the board. “The Election Board recognizes the importance of providing every voter a complete and accurate ballot and apologizes to the affected voters for this error.”
The board, which includes Floyd County Clerk Danita Burks, did not speak to news media following the meeting.
Officials say they have corrected the error and that early voting resumed Friday with the corrected ballot styles on voting machines.
Voters who got the incomplete ballots will receive a written explanation and ABS-5 form, officials said. That is a “statement concerning defective, lost, destroyed, or spoiled absentee ballot.” After that is processed, they'll receive instructions and a chance to vote a corrected ballot.
Susan Lockhart and her husband Jerry voted Tuesday, the first day of early voting, at the Floyd County 4-H Fairgrounds. She told LPM News this week they started questioning their ballots after they left.
“It wasn't until we left that I said, ‘Hey, did you vote for Ellen?’ And he said, ‘There was no place to vote for Ellen,’” Lockhart said Thursday.
She questioned how the faulty ballots were issued in the first place, and said it shouldn't be up to the voters to catch it.
“There's no reason for the ballot to go out incomplete if that many people have their eyes on it,” she said. “And the Floyd County clerk, the buck stops with her.”
Kelley, the Democratic candidate, said after the meeting she learned about the error when she started getting text messages from people saying her name hadn’t been on their ballots.
And she’s not confident the process to address the problem will work.
“I know that for the average person, getting out to vote once is can be a big deal when you're trying to get to work and go to soccer practice and make sure the laundry's done,” she said. ‘“And to receive a letter in the mail that says something very weird like this, I don't think people are gonna have the time, maybe.”
Or, she said, they may think it’s a scam.
Knable, the Republican incumbent, said after the meeting he had concerns about people who might be out of town or have trouble getting around.
“That's a great concern because I want to make sure that those people do have a chance to be heard,” he said. He also said he was concerned about the whole situation.
He said he doesn’t think this incident will affect the outcome of the race.
“But even if it does, that's a meager consideration when you consider the fact that we might potentially disenfranchise some of these 572 folks,” he said.
Election officials did not provide a reason for the error. They said that ballot information and styles are usually reviewed and proofed before going out to voters, and they’re reviewing the process to see what happened.
Voters with questions or concerns can contact the Floyd County Election Division at (812) 948-5419.
Coverage of Southern Indiana is funded, in part, by Samtec Inc., the Hazel & Walter T. Bales Foundation, and the Caesars Foundation of Floyd County.