Local

Printing error leads to confusion over polling sites

ATLANTA — The Fulton County Board of Elections tells Channel 2 Action News a printing error is to blame for wrong information on polling locations.

The county calls the whole thing a printing error.

"How did they send this out like this?" voter Joyce Jones asked Channel 2's Michael Buczyner.

Jones showed him a copy of her voter registration card with the error included on it. Jones' voter registration card lists Herndon Elementary School as one of her two voting locations for Tuesday's election.

Only problem, the school is closed and that's concerning for Jones and community leaders.

"This election is too important for us to lose anybody's vote," Jones said. "I think it was something that somebody did and maybe they thought it would go unnoticed."

"The information that many of the voters received about the polling places in this area is incorrect," concerned voter Bishop John Lewis said.

Lewis said the mistake on Jones' card and hundreds others is not an accident. He said it was done on purpose, "to confuse and ultimately suppress the voters in this area."

The Fulton County Department of Elections denies that charge and calls the mistake a printing error, blaming the Secretary of State's office, which prints the cards.

"Corrective steps have been taken in my office so that this doesn't happen again," Fulton County Elections Director Samuel Westmoreland said.

The Department of Elections also notified 178 early voters of an error on the ballots they used.

Westmoreland tells Buczyner those ballots listed the wrong candidates in a state senate race.

"We were able to reclaim those ballots and allow those people to vote a correct ballot," Westmoreland said.

Fulton County elections officials told Buczyner they've already sent three mailings to residents to notify them of the mistake.

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