A programming glitch caused by controversial voting machine manufacturer ES&S led to voters in Wildwood Crest being served ballots from Wildwood during the early voting process, preventing at least 26 votes from casting their votes in a race for Democratic county committee.
In a bad break for ES&S, one of the voters affected was Marie Blistan, the Cape May County Democratic Chair and the former president of the New Jersey Education Association.
Blistan went to vote on Wednesday and couldn’t find her own name for a county committee seat in Wildwood Crest on the ballot. She wrote herself and her running mate in and then notified the county clerk that ballot issues existed.
“There was an issue with the voting machines as far as what came up on the screen,” said Deputy Attorney General Karen Catanese. “There was a coding issue, and so instead of Wildwood Crest coming up, Wildwood came up. As soon as that was realized, the board took action and called ES&S. They worked it out, figured out what the issue was, and it was resolved within the next day.”
Catanese did not say why the Board of Elections didn’t make any public disclosures but reported that machines are working properly today.
Elizabeth Casey, an attorney representing the Cape May Democrats, said that other voters didn’t necessarily catch the glitch as Blistan did.
“They came, they voted in the ballot that was before them, and they haven’t been made aware that there was a faulty ballot presented to them at the early voting,” she said.
Cape May County Clerk Rita Rothberg offered a fix.
“My understanding from ES&S is because of the coding issue, a ballot for Wildwood District Three was served up to a Wildwood Crest District Three voter. And I understand from Mrs. Blistan that she did a write-in or committee, Rothberg said. “My recommendation is that the write-in tally for District Three in Wildwood Crest that came from Wildwood District Three be accepted and ordered. We can do that with the tally after the election is made official.”
Superior Court Judge Michale Blee called it “a very reasonable approach” and said he would issue an order allowing that.
“I clearly believe that the intent of these voters was to vote in Wildwood Crest District Three that because of a computer or call it a glitch, for lack of a better word, they were unable to properly vote,” Blee said. “The sanctity of the vote is certainly important to all of us, particularly the court and those involved in the process. Conceivably these are uncontested races, and all in all likelihood, this glitch will not have an adverse effect on the election process, but we really don’t know.”
Blistan told Blee that she’s concerned that the final count of primary votes won’t properly reflect Wildwood Crest’s turnout.
“Our votes for the president, the Senate, the congressional seat, will get counted in the data for Wildwood rather than Wildwood Crest,” stated Blistan.
Rothberg said a footnote will be included with the results to explain the discrepancy.