Some Tennesseans heading to the polls for early voting have encountered problems in the ballot box. Voters have reported that when they try to select one name on the voting machine’s screen, another one lights up instead.
The voting machine isn’t necessarily the problem. Nashville’s elections administrator, Jeff Roberts, said that it all comes down to where voters click on the touchscreen.
“They are trying to punch (a) little box with their finger,” Roberts said.
Your finger is not as precise as the sticks that polling places have; those red sticks can zero in on the little box near the candidate’s name.
“We’ve put this new sign on all the machines that tells people: Tap on the name, don’t tap on the little square,” Roberts said.
Roberts demonstrated on a sample voting machine that had canines instead of candidates. When he tried to vote for “Beagle” in the second row, it selected the “Bulldog option” above it.
Since Republicans are listed first in races, when voters run into this issue, it’s usually because they wanted an option below the first. Some people who have tried to vote for Gloria Johnson for Senate, sometimes find that the machine selects Marsha Blackburn instead.
More: Who’s on the ballot in Middle Tennessee? Brush up on your candidates with WPLN’s voter guide
Roberts said it’s easy to fix.
“Once you’re finished, it’s going to allow you to review your selections. So, that’s your first check,” Roberts said.
After that, you can print your ballot and double check your choices. Let a poll worker know if you need to change it, and they can help you up until it’s in the scanner.
“Once it’s in the scanner, we can’t do anything with it,” Roberts said. “Your vote’s completed at that point.”
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