Software Glitch Delayed Release of Results

KLAS-TV

(Sep. 8) For the second time during a busy election, the county's election department is plagued with problems. The Registrar of Voters says that software mishap was just one problem they had to deal with, and it must be fixed before the general election.

Less than a day after the primary election, the clean up is already underway. Some 3,000 machines are being returned to election headquarters. Election officials are busy making sure mistakes made in the primary election are not repeated.

Larry Lomax said, "I wasn't happy. I am always surprised when something doesn't work" Lomax, the Registrar of Voters, is talking about the software glitch that delayed the release of results Tuesday night. "They had to create new software that would support this printer and both voting machines we have. My guess in the process of getting it developed and federally certified, a bug that was there in 2002 must have crept back in. This has nothing to do with tabulating the results. It's the ability to tell the number of precincts reporting."

There were also problems making sure all the equipment was returned from the polling places. "We're going to go back and re-evaluate our training," said Lomax.

While Larry Lomax is confident the voting machines and ballot cartridges were secure, he knows just how serious an election can be. "We can't be making mistakes because one mistake can cost the election."

For now the results are safely stored in a vault. "At the end of the night, you run a printout for how many votes were cast for each candidate on each machine," Lomaz explained.

A team of election officials will spend the next week canvassing the election and will present the results to the Board of Commissioners on Tuesday.