Concerns Over Straight Party Voting Issues Investigated, Explained
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FORT WORTH (CBS11) - One voice, one vote but some in Tarrant County are reporting their check-mark for their chosen candidate is going into the wrong box.
The issue caught people's attention after a Facebook post claimed a relative had selected to vote "straight party."
The person claimed their selection for president bounced to a different party and candidate. The very post has now gone viral and been shared more than 200,000 times.
"It spreads like wildfires and it's hard to put them out," said Stephen Vickers, an administrator for the Tarrant County Elections Office.
Vickers said he has fielded call after call from voters claiming the voting machines are busted.
"I saw an email, I saw a Facebook post, it was my brother, it was my sister, my second removed cousin," said Vickers. "Regardless of who's calling, when they're calling, or even if it was my second-removed step cousin, we take the allegations seriously."
Vickers believes when folks vote straight party, they use the navigation wheel to attempt to get to the next page. When they cannot, they hit the "enter" button which selects whatever candidate they are hovering over at the time. Then the page flips to the next page.
"My best guess is the voters aren't following the instructions because we can't replicate it," said Vickers.
Vickers said most of the claims he has received are coming from second-party voters or people who heard about issues. In some cases when folks have called in to report issues, they refuse to come to the voting office to show officials what happened.
"We don't care who wins the election. We just want the election to run smoothly," said Vickers.
Tarrant County Elections administrators said if anyone is having a problem, they do not want anyone to cast their ballot. There is a help button one all of the machines and there is always a judge or clerk standing by to assist.
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