On Monday, May 2, an alert voter called the Chatham County Board of Elections to inquire about a possible error on their sample ballot for Precinct 8-01, the new combined poll location at the Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum.

The voter explained they live in House District 165 but House District 162 was listed on the ballot. Chatham County Board of Elections‘ staff immediately researched the issue and met with the registrar to review the ballot. It was determined that the ballot for Precinct 8-01 had the wrong district number listed. The General Assembly recently reapportioned and redistricted state house districts and a coding error was determined to have caused the mistake on the ballot. 

The registrar immediately identified the absentee ballots that had been requested by voters in Precinct 8-01. Those ballots will be canceled and new ballots will be issued to those voters. There is no additional action required on the part of voters except to submit the updated ballot; not the original ballot containing the error. Those voters have received a letter explaining the situation. 

 “Chatham County has more than 500 ballot styles. Our staff members spent a week proofing the ballots and corrected a number of mistakes prior to printing," said Board of Elections Chairman Tom Mahoney. 

According to Elections Director Billy Wooten, “When we sign off on the final proofs, it is our goal to produce completely correct ballots with no errors. This was missed and we have since corrected it.”

Voters in Precinct 8-01 who vote early in person are being issued the correct ballot. Voters in Precinct 8-01 who request an absentee ballot will receive the correct ballot. 

“We appreciated the voter who called and alerted us. This voter’s quick action kept the issue from becoming a bigger problem," Mahoney said. "We welcome and appreciate calls from citizens.”

CONTACT
Billy Wooten
Supervisor of Elections
Chatham County Board of Elections
912-201-4380