Voting problems identified in Calhoun County

Election officials in Calhoun County say An omission on a newly drawn district map may have prevented as many as nine Weaver residents from voting in the correct state House race in the Nov. 4^th  elections.

Those voters, who live on Kelly Lane, should have been able to vote in District 40, a race between incumbent K. L. Brown, the Republican who won the seat, and Democrat Ted Copland. Instead, records indicate that any of those nine Kelly Lane residents who went to the polls were handed ballots for uncontested House District 36, a seat held by Republican Randy Wood.

County election officials said the error occurred because Kelly Lane was not labeled on the district map. That map was printed to reflect changes made to district lines by the Legislature in 2012, a routine step it takes every 10 years to account for shifts in population. 

 Calhoun County Probate Judge Alice Martins  office identified the problem after Copland reported that some voters who live in the Buckhorn subdivision were handed the wrong ballot. Copland collected the names of those voters and reported them to the Probate Office on Monday, a step that Martin said helped narrow the scope of her investigation into the matter.

Martin checked the names of those voters who reported a problem against voter records to determine which ballot they should have received and confirmed Copland’s claim that some received the wrong ballot.

Martin said the county Board of Registrars corrected the problem on the county’s computerized voter documentation system.

Copland lost by a three-to-one margin and is not contesting the results of the election, but said it is important to ensure that each person is voting in the right district.