State Developing Remedy for Votes Cast in Wrong Primary

State election officials say they will help voters erase record of voting in the wrong primary. Blake Farmer/WPLN

Tennessee’s coordinator of elections says voters in Nashville who ended up casting a ballot in the wrong primary will have a way to at least scrub their records. A few have complained of getting a Republican ballot even though they wanted to vote as a Democrat.

Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall voted in the wrong primary and has since asked for a way to change his publicly accessible voter history.

Mark Goins, who is over Tennessee elections, says voters like Hall can’t take back their ballot, but they can erase any record of it. By signing a form, documents will reflect an error.

“It’s not really about a contest at this point. It’s more about just making sure the process is right going forward.”

Davidson County election administrator Albert Tieche says the problem will be solved in the next primary election – nearly two years from now.

Since the Republicans are in the majority in Tennessee, the GOP ballot is listed first on the computer screen. Tieche says that if a poll worker failed to ask which primary a voter wanted, a Republican ballot was automatically selected. He says a failsafe will be put in place so poll workers have to ask next time.

State, Local Officials Butt Heads Over Expansion

Tieche wants to put electronic poll books in every precinct this November.

The laptops used to scan IDs and check in voters save time and money, he says. The computers can compress several weeks of post-election work into a single day. The electronic poll books were used in 60 of Nashville’s 160 precincts in August.

“I’m pretty happy with that rollout process. It worked.”

Tieche acknowledges poll workers still need more training. But he says the biggest problem uncovered during the primary had to do with party preference – a non-issue in November’s General Election.

Still, state elections coordinator Goins warns against expansion. In a letter, he had already discouraged Davidson County from fast-tracking the electronic check in stations for the primary.

“Honestly, I have reservations going to 160 precincts, no doubt about it. I have reservations.”

Ultimately, Tieche says he will defer to the five-member Davidson County Election Commission, which meets next week to consider the issue.

Web Extra

View the letter from Mark Goins asking for information about voting problems.

View the response from Albert Tieche.