Early Voters From Amarillo Are Saying Their Votes Were Changed On the Ballot
It's what most voters fear when they go in to fill out their ballots.
UPDATE 9 a.m: Potter County Judge Nancy Tanner released a statement this morning. It said, "There is nothing wrong with any of the machines we use for voting. They do not flip your vote. They do not flip parties. Humans do that." It goes on to talk about the situation in Canyon: "There was one incident in Randall County where a voter voted straight ticket and when they hit the vote button, it flipped parties...The machine was then checked and nothing was wrong with the machine."
View the entire press release here.
Original story: Early voting for the 2016 election started today (Monday, October 24th). The people of Potter and Randall County are taking this opportunity to skip the long lines that always file out of the voting locations on Election Day.
It's common to see pictures of the "I Voted!" stickers on social media. It's not as common to see the stories I've been seeing today.
A voter from Canyon posted the experience she had while voting. Apparently, when she chose the straight Republican option, the ballot selected Clinton/Kaine instead of Trump/Pence.
The same story has been reported in Dallas.
We spoke to the Randall County Elections Office and they were aware of this mistake but addressed it as user-error. They said that there are several voters each year who report that their ballots are mismarked, but they are usually caused by the voter accidentally selecting a different party.
Tensions are especially high this year because of the controversial candidates running for president. There are many state and local offices on the ballot, so even if you aren't sure about your presidential selection, try to get out and vote.
However, you should always double check your ballot, no matter which party you're affiliated with.
Click here to visit the Texas State Elections website. You can also contact the Potter County Elections Office at (806) 379-2299 or the Randall County Elections Office at (806) 468-5510.
Has this ever happened to you? Let us know!