Tarrant County man's viral voting issue was likely user error, elections officials say
FORT WORTH, Texas - With people flooding the polls for early voting, there’s a reminder to always double-check your ballot.
The Tarrant County Elections officials are also trying to clear up confusion after one man claimed to have a problem while voting early.
In a video shared on social media, the voter claimed that when he checked his paper ballot after making his selections electronically, his choice for president was not recorded correctly.
Where to Vote: Tarrant County early voting locations
Early voting is from October 21 through November 1. Here is a list of the Tarrant County early voting locations.
Elections Administrator Clint Ludwig does not believe the machine malfunctioned. Instead, he thinks the man accidentally selected the wrong candidate on the screen.
That voter was given a new ballot and was able to start the process over so that his chosen candidate would be entered.
Ludwig said voters should always confirm their electronic ballot selections are correct before and after they are printed.
"What we believe to have occurred is the individual did make a selection on the machine and that selection was printed on their ballot. When they went to cast their ballot, they checked it and realized that was not the vote they wanted. This is not uncommon, and there is a process in place called spoiling the ballot to handle this," he said.
Tarrant County early voting hours, locations
Early voting is now underway across Texas and runs through November 1.
"The enthusiasm for this election is off the charts. Out of all the votes cast, one person has claimed his vote was altered from the time he marked it on the screen to the time it was printed. Voters should always review their choices on the screen before printing the paper ballot. After the paper ballot is printed, voters should review their choices again before casting their ballot. If any intended selection is not listed on your paper ballot, you may ask the Election Judge to spoil your ballot, and you will receive a new ballot. So far, the Elections Department is only aware of this happening once - the same instance referenced above. Voters can vote with confidence in Tarrant County," Tarrant County Judge Tim O'Hare added in a statement.
Tarrant County reports 2 errors amid high early voting turnout
Tarrant County election officials are reminding voters to confirm their ballot selections before submitting the paper printout.
Tarrant County also discovered one other "labeling error" for a race on the paper ballots. But the candidates are being correctly displayed on the screen and the printed ballot.
The elections office said the glitch did not impact vote choices or the results of any race.
More than 101,000 people have cast their votes in Tarrant County already.
North Texas early voting turnout: Voting numbers mostly up on day one
Tarrant, Denton and Collin counties each saw thousands more voters cast a ballot on the first day of early voting compared to 2020 and 2016. Dallas County saw a slight dip.
By comparison, there were about 87,639 votes on the first two days of early voting in 2020. But in 2020, the early voting period was six days longer because of the pandemic.