The Chatham Board of Registrars and Chatham Board of Elections have confirmed that seven ballots, four cast during early voting and tree sent out as absentee ballots, included the incorrect Georgia House district race.

Board of Elections Supervisor Billy Wooten said the BOE has identified the issue, which stemmed from both local voting precinct changes and the newly drawn redistricting maps.

Wooten said the incorrect ballots were limited to Precinct 8-1, which was combined with Precinct 3-1 prior to this election cycle.

Map changes contribute to errors

The two precincts used to be housed in the Savannah Civic Center, with the Precinct 3-1 voters casting ballots in Georgia House District 165. Some of the Precinct 8-1 voters also cast ballots in that race, but 8-1 was a split precinct, and some voters cast votes for candidates running for the District 162 post.

The two precincts border each other near Savannah's northeastern edge. Precinct 3-1 covers Hutchinson Island while Precinct 8-1 stretches further west, encompassing Carver Village, West Savannah and Yamacraw Village.

Both precincts now fall fully under District 165 due to the 2021 redistricting session changes.

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Credit: Michael Holohan/The Augusta Chronicle

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Credit: Michael Holohan/The Augusta Chronicle

"When all that information was flying back and forth, to the state, it somehow was transposed or typed in wrong," Wooten said. "We don't blame people. We just want to fix it and move on. We want the voters to get the right ballot."

Board of Registrars Chairman Colin McRae says voters who cast a ballot with an incorrect race would be notified by mail and receive a corrected absentee ballot.

"They'll be reissued using a correct ballot," McRae said. "Those who received the erroneous ballot will be allowed to vote using a new corrected ballot."

Wooten said the BOE will have the correct ballots available for voters in these precincts before the primary election, set for May 24. "We can fix seven. And we also have not even programmed the Election Day machines for that poll," Wooten said. "We will put the right number in before we program them so we can fix that as well."

Error reported by voter

The BOE was contacted by a voter Monday morning around 9 a.m., just as early voting began in Chatham. The voter had compared his or her ballot to the sample ballots available online and noticed a discrepancy.

"We dealt with it, because we're the ones who proofed and worked directly with the state on the ballot," Wooten said. "We work with the state to publish the sample ballots; we work with the state to make sure the myvoterpage.com information is correct."

Board of Elections Chairman Tom Mahoney said he's grateful to the BOE staff for fixing the error "proactively," and that the error was only limited to seven ballots.

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Credit: AP Photo/Lynne Sladky

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Credit: AP Photo/Lynne Sladky

"In a reapportionment year, it is possible that there's going to be an error like this," Mahoney said. "I'm just really happy that the voters and the staff worked together and got this so that we only had seven. It was only seven votes; that's a lot easier to fix."

Wooten said if any other voters notice an error on their ballot, they should immediately contact either the Board of Elections at 912-201-4375 or the Board of Registrars at 912-790-1520.

Will Peebles is the enterprise reporter for Savannah Morning News. He can be reached at wpeebles@gannett.com and @willpeeblessmn on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Chatham voters receive incorrect ballots ahead of primary. What are officials doing about it?

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