State Rep. Robin Smith’s name was left off ballots in the first hour on the first day of early voting in one Chattanooga precinct.
On Friday, a voter called Smith to tell the Republican that her name was missing from the ballot for the 26th District, WRCB reported. This happened in Chattanooga’s Northgate 2 precinct. This impacted 10 early voters and 18 absentee ballots.
The voter refused to leave until the problem was fixed, Smith told the television station.
The Hamilton County Election Commission blamed the problem on a new system that prints ballots on demand instead of using pre-printed copies, The Chattanoogan reported. This is an uncontested race.
Kerry Steelman, election administrator, said, “One hour after the opening of polls on the first day of early voting, the Election Commission recognized that House District 26 candidate Republican Robin Smith was not being printed on the ballot for the Northgate 2 precinct.
In a statement on her Facebook page, Smith addressed the problem.
It doesn’t matter which district, which race. We must all work for elections that honor the right of citizens who are registered to impact the decisions of those who represent them. We must have elections that reflect the integrity of each vote.
Know who represents you and thanks to the three folks who did – one who let me know about her absentee ballot and the two on Friday while voting in-person – who caught the errors.
Good government, active, engaged citizens…let’s keep it up!
If you have issues, email our campaign at [email protected].
In Hamilton County, a total of 4,700 people had voted on Friday and Saturday, the Tennessee Secretary of State’s Office said. The tally breaks down to 2,271 Republicans and 2,189 Democrats. Votes are by in-person early voters and absentee ballots.
Hamilton County’s total is an 82.24 percent jump over 2018’s first two day totals of 2,579, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported.
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Jason M. Reynolds has more than 20 years’ experience as a journalist at outlets of all sizes.
Kevin, your comment is just one example of the problem in the world today. Everything is a conspiracy. The ballot on demand concept is a wonderful money saving solution. The error was caught quickly and ballots have been re-issued according the article.
Oh, it’s just a simple mistake, in an uncontested race, nothing to see here! Yeah right!
“… blamed the problem on a new system”? No, this was and is the fault of a person or persons! A complete investigation by a third party needs to be conducted! What was the gauge R & R on the system?
Our election systems must be simple, robust and verifiable, because when we can no longer trust our elections, our form of government and our country are gone! And there are plenty of bad “actors” in this world, foreign and domestic, that want that to happen.