The Northwest Observer    29 October 2007

GUILFORD COUNTY - Voters who attempted to take advantage of early voting on Saturday may have been unable to do so due to a problem with voting machines. Some Summerfield citizens who went to vote at the early voting site set up at Bur-Mil Park reported a problem with the machines there.

George Gilbert, director of the Guilford County Board of Elections confirms that due to a computer glitch, all five of the machines at Bur-Mil would not display the correct information to allow citizens from Summerfield, Oak Ridge, Whitsett, Pleasant Garden and Sedalia to vote. Gilbert says citizens who attempted to vote were urged to come back later, and were given a provisional absentee ballot so they could vote manually if they were unable to do so.

Gilbert says those machines have been removed and replaced, and he will be contacting the manufacturer to determine why the malfunction occurred. No votes should have been lost due to the problem, but the Board of Elections will be performing an audit to make sure, he adds.