Write-in votes delay election ballot count

By BEV DARR
Hannibal Courier-Post   07 April 2005

PALMYRA - Although Marion County has an optic-scan vote-counting machine at each of the 21 polling places, a delay caused by having one write-in candidate along with a small malfunction in four of the machines delayed the county's vote tally in Tuesday's election.
Lonnie Nelson, an election judge at the Marion County Courthouse in Palmyra, helps with the vote tally Tuesday night. Write-in votes on the optic-scan voting system, plus a minor problem, caused election officials a 1 and 1/2 hour delay in compiling the totals. (C-P photo/Bob Greenlee)
In this optic-scan system, paper ballots are marked with a special pen, then ed into a machine for the vote counting process.

Marion County Clerk Bob Ravenscraft explained that normally the vote count would be completed by around 9 p.m., "but we ran about an hour and a half delay."

Ravenscraft was pleased to report that more than 5,000 county residents voted Tuesday, representing 32 percent of the registered voters. "I thought it was a real good turnout for an April election, it was well above average. And think it was highway 36 that brought them out."

He said the machines, "don't accept an occasional ballot," which means the vote count would be incorrect in that precinct. "We had four precincts where a ballot would jam. Then they (poll workers) would clear it." After the machine was working again, the election workers were unsure if the machine had added the previous votes, he explained.

Providing an example, Ravenscraft said if 288 votes were cast, the machine might show 287 votes. This happened at three precincts in Hannibal and one in Palmyra. Because of this, the ballots had to be recounted in the machines at the courthouse in Palmyra, he said.

Ravenscraft added that this was not a major problem. "Of all the votes cast I didn't think it was out of the ordinary to have four ballots jam. I will be talking to the vendor and see if they can help us out with it."

The optic-scan machine can ensure voter honesty, he added. "If the voter were to have over-voted (voted incorrectly,) it will kick it back to them, alerting them to the mistake they have made. We call that a spoiled ballot." The voter will then get another ballot and vote again.

The write-in candidate caused a more time-consuming delay, he said. This was for the 9-1-1 Board. Three candidates were to be elected in the Eastern District and three in the Western District, along with one at-large candidate.

In the Eastern District, only James R. Hark had filed by the filing deadline. However, a write-in candidate may still file, which is what John Nemes did. His name was not on the ballot, so when he received votes, they had to be hand-counted. This required that all the ballots in all seven precincts in the Eastern District be checked to determine his vote total.

The third person to serve on the 9-1-1 board from the Eastern District will be appointed by the board members themselves, according to Missouri law, Ravenscraft said.

In the Western District, Gary Lee Crane, Dorothea F. Lake and John W. Baker were the only candidates, so all were elected.

The at-large position on the board had only one candidate, Al Durand, so he also was elected.

In the Eastern District there were 20 more names written in, in addition to Nemes, Ravenscraft explained, "but since they had not filed at all, they weren't counted."

This hand-checking of the ballots required an extra 45 minutes, he said. He was assisted by four in-house election judges. These four are two Republicans and 2 Democrats, appointed for this role.

Despite the delays caused by using the optic-scan voting system, he is pleased with this method. He emphasized that he has, "checks and balances in the office to ensure that everything was done correctly."