Indian River Shores referendum ends up on the wrong ballots

By Tony Judnich
staff writer  TCPalm News
October 16, 2004

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY Oops.

A referendum for Town of Indian River Shores' voters has mistakenly made it onto half of the 841 absentee ballots recently sent to voters who cast votes for candidates for Sebastian Inlet Tax District and Indian River County Mosquito Control District.

  
Despite the error, the county's vote-tabulation system won't count any votes cast on the Indian River Shores question by voters who don't live in that community, county Supervisor of Elections Kay Clem said Friday.

"We can program it so it doesn't tally that race," she said. "And if someone in Sebastian decides to vote on the Indian River Shores question it won't count. (The error) is not going to affect counting the ballots. But we have, in effect, sent the wrong ballot to the voter."

Half of the absentee ballots have correct information on the front of the ballot but have the Indian River Shores referendum incorrectly added to the back. Supervisor of Elections staff discovered the error Tuesday night when they checked the ballots, which were mailed to voters beginning Oct. 6. Clem said all other ballots for the upcoming election are error free.

The ballot printing company, Sequoia Pacific Voting Systems Inc. of Oakland, Calif., made a mistake with the absentee ballots by not following the ballot format chart sent in by the county, Clem said. She added such printing errors have occurred with ballots made by other companies for other municipalities.

"(The error affecting some Indian River County ballots) was an error on our part that we regret," Sequoia spokesman Alfie Charles said Friday. "One of the difficult parts of preparing for elections is preparing all the ballot styles for the counties across the country."

The Indian River Shores question refers to ing the order of candidates on the ballot. Town voters are to decide if the names should be listed randomly, after being drawn out of a box by the town clerk, rather than listing them alphabetically.

Some voters in Sebastian, Gifford, Wabasso, Indian River Estates and Orchid will see the extra question on their absentee ballots.

"Obviously, if they don't live in the Town of Indian River Shores they shouldn't vote on that," Clem said.

Clem, who is a member of the Canvassing Board, notified the other two board members and Indian River Shores officials about the error. Town Manager Robert Bradshaw could not be reached for comment.

The absentee ballots are due by 7 p.m. Nov. 2, Election Day. Voters can mail them in or them off at Clem's office, 1750 25th St., Vero Beach.

In 2001, the county bought 420 touch-screen voting machines from Sequoia Pacific Voting Systems to replace punch-card ballots, which became infamous after the 2000 general election for having hanging "chads," or holes that normally pop free.

In that election, President Bush and then-Vice President Al Gore fought to the tightest margin in U.S. history. Gore supporters complained many Gore-vote chads had flapped shut again instead of popping free.