Overview
- A county employee uploaded an outdated voter file that knocked the interconnected electronic check‑in system offline for roughly two to three hours during Tuesday’s runoff, forcing staff to repair machines and update software across vote centers.
- During the outage some voters were incorrectly told they were ineligible and many were instructed to cast provisional ballots or asked to return later to vote on regular ballots.
- Elections officials say service has been restored, that ballot tabulation was not compromised, and that they are working with the vendor to diagnose the error, but they have not released how many voters were impacted or how many provisional ballots were issued.
- Local party leaders considered asking a judge to extend voting hours but decided against it because recent court rulings created legal uncertainty about the validity of ballots cast after polls closed.
- Outside experts and candidates warn the episode undermines voter confidence, note that provisional ballots could change outcomes in races decided by slim margins, and urge a formal review of procedures ahead of November.