Voters need to check their ballots in the runoff election to ensure accuracy, said Ouachita County Election Commissioners after reports of voting machines switching votes circulated on social media.
The Ouachita County Election Commission has received no formal complaints of voting machine errors, Commissioner Eddie Horton said, but a few Ouachita County voters took to Facebook complaining of errors with ExpressVote ballot marking machines.
One Facebook user posted, "Went to vote today at the court house and note the machine was glitchy. I pressed the right check and the wrong candidate's name was highlighted. It took a minute to get it changed."
Another user posted, "When you hit a certain candidates name it is popping off of it to another name. After your card comes out look at it to make sure its got the right vote on it before inserting into machine."
An October 28 story in The Texas Tribune covers similar reports. Election officials there said the touch screen voting machines "can be tricky to use, much like miscues while trying to use a smartphone.
"If you don't hit it just exactly right, you're gonna hit one of the letters around it," Midland County Election Administrator Carolyn Graves told the Tribune. "It's essentially the same thing. If you don't hit it with the tip of your finger or turn your finger to the side, then you could hit the other [choice]."
Horton said if Ouachita County voters encounter issues with a voting machine, they should immediately notify poll workers.
"If there's any issue they need to stop what they are doing and address it to the poll workers, but we have no complaints on paper yet," he said. "The Election Commission is on top of this."
Voters can request a stylus for voting, Horton said. He also recommended reviewing one's ballot before printing it.
He said voters can file written complaints with the election commission.
Arkansas Code Annotated § 7-5-510 requires county election commissions to provide, to every polling place using a voting machine(s), forms for voters to use in filing a complaint about the function of a voting machine. Poll workers must forward complaint forms to their county election commission for investigation. A copy of the complaint must also be forwarded to the Elections Division of the Arkansas Secretary of State.