A programming glitch on in-person early voting machines throughout Hudson County has left Spanish-language ballots with two columns labeled Line A and no Line B, potentially confusing voters, some of whom Democratic campaigns have told to support their candidates in Column B.
Hudson County Executive Craig Guy called the mistake “egregious” and “unacceptable” and said election officials are rushing to replace the affected machines, with corrected ballots expected to be available at every early voting location by Saturday evening or before polls open Sunday.
“I have been informed of an error on the Spanish-language general election ballot on electronic voting machines at all Hudson County early voting locations,” Guy said. “This is an egregious, unacceptable mistake, and, although I am legally restricted from involvement in the running of elections, I immediately contacted all county election divisions and municipal clerks to inform them of the problem.”
Guy said County Counsel had contacted the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office and that election supervisors were stationed at polling locations to explain the problem to voters and assist them.
“Election officials are currently in the process of swapping out effected machines as expeditiously as possible and supervisors are on location to inform voters of the issue and assist them,” Guy said. “The new machines with the correct ballot will be at all early voting sites by later today or latest before voting commences tomorrow.”
The problem affects voting machines at every early voting location in Hudson County, but only when voters select Spanish as their preferred language. English-language ballots are not affected.
In Hudson County this year, Republicans won the drawing for Line A, while Democrats were assigned Line B. Independent candidates appear on Lines C, D, E and F.
But on Spanish-language ballots, both of the first two columns are labeled Line A, leaving no column labeled Line B. Republican candidates appear in the first of the two Line A columns.
That presents a particular problem for Democrats, whose campaign literature and voter communications have instructed supporters to vote for candidates in Column B — a column that does not appear on the Spanish-language voting machine display.
The error does not appear on provisional ballots or sample ballots, both of which correctly identify the Republican and Democratic columns.
Correcting the problem requires replacing or reprogramming the affected voting machines, a potentially complicated undertaking with early voting already underway.
Hudson County Clerk Junior Maldonado did not immediately respond to a telephone call seeking comment, and no one answered the telephone in his office’s election division.
An employee of the Hudson County Board of Elections said the County Clerk’s office was closed for the weekend, even though early voting is taking place on Saturday and Sunday.
“They are not here today or tomorrow,” the employee said. “They’re the ones who do the proofreading of the ballots.”
The office being closed — county clerks are supposed to be open while the polls are open — also prevents voters from requesting messenger or replacement ballots today and tomorrow.
The programming error raises questions about how the incorrect column designations escaped detection before the county deployed voting machines to early voting locations.
It also creates the potential for confusion among Spanish-speaking voters who rely on party column designations to identify their preferred candidates.
In a separate Election Day security incident, there was a bomb threat at an early voting location in West Orange around 11:30 a.m. Saturday. The Essex County Sheriff’s Department responded immediately, conducted a sweep with bomb-sniffing dogs, and reopened the polling place before noon.
This story was updated at 3:31 PM with comment from Guy.
RELATED ARTICLES
-
September 8, 2020 -
-
