An error by the Secretary of State’s Office meant some Candler Park residents received the wrong ballot at a neighborhood precinct Tuesday morning, a problem that could affect races for the Atlanta City Council and the Board of Education.
Fulton County Elections Director Richard Barron said the county corrected the problem within a few hours. But an unknown number of residents may have voted in the wrong elections. Others cast provisional ballots when they noticed the incorrect ballots.
Kate Sandhaus, the communications chairwoman for the Candler Park Neighborhood Organization, said she’s received dozens of complaints from residents who got the wrong ballot at the Epworth Church polling place. The county said late Tuesday that only 130 people at the precinct had voted before the problem was discovered, and not all of them were affected.
“We know this is not one or two people,” Sandhaus said. “We know it’s a widespread problem.”
The residents should have been voting in races for the Atlanta City Council District 2, where incumbent Kwanza Hall ran unopposed, and Board of Education District 1, in which incumbent Brenda Muhammad faced challenger Leslie Grant. Instead, they received ballots for City Council District 5, where incumbent Natalyn Archibong faced challenger Christian Enterkin and other candidates, and Board of Education District 3, where Matt Westmoreland ran unopposed.
Enterkin said her name was left off many ballots at Epworth Church but Archibong’s name was on those ballots. She plans to challenge the results because of the error, which she fears is widespread.
“First, this precinct is not even in my district … and secondly, the problem lasted several hours,” Enterkin said. “Who knows how many voters I lost.”
Secretary of State Brian Kemp took responsibility for the problem Tuesday afternoon in a statement issued to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He cited a “human data entry error” at his agency.
Kemp said there is no way to know how many ballots were cast in error until the election is completed. He promised a thorough investigation.
The Secretary of State’s Office may have caused the problem. But some voters said county election workers made it worse.
Candler Park resident Marcy Leamy said she arrived at the Epworth Church precinct at 7:30 a.m. and noticed immediately that she had the wrong ballot. She said a poll manager seemed unconcerned.
“I asked her if she could call someone and check on the issue, and she refused,” Leamy said.
Later, the county began issuing provisional ballots to affected voters.
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