So the “yes” and “no” boxes are transposed on the Referendum F question on 44,000 absentee ballots in Denver. Well, it’s not the only place ballot mistakes are being found, and in one instance the same voting machine contractor is being blamed. Officials in Denver and Chicago are both holding Sequoia Voting Systems responsible for errors on printed ballots. This is what’s being said about it in Denver:
Late Wednesday, Sequoia Voting Systems took responsibility for the error, saying the company “deeply regrets” the mistake.
Election officials said they had proofed the ballot, and the proof did not contain the error. Somehow, the proof was changed, said commission spokesman Alton Dillard.
And in Chicago:
“We caught the error. It was corrected. But unfortunately, the wrong election file was sent to the printer without the correction,” said election board spokesman Tom Leach, blaming the mistake on Sequoia Voting Systems, the company behind the ballot-counting debacle that followed the March 21 primary.
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The Chicago board of elections chairman called Sequoia’s error “one more strike against the company” – the same company Denver voters will be trusting to accurately count their ballots.
On a lighter note, however, the mistake could be more costly. For example, the word “public” could be missing its essential “L” like it is in one Michigan county. In Denver, a letter will be sent warning voters of the ballot error, and in Chicago, signs will be posted in polling places to inform voters. But in the very pub(l)ic Michigan case, ballots will be reprinted to the tune of $40,000.
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