Iowa: Some ballots to be hand counted as machines fail

Among various problems at polling places across the nation, one county in Iowa will resort to hand counting its ballots this week.

As reported by the Des Moines Register, voting machines in some Story County precincts failed to work, resulting in the decision to hand count ballots beginning after polls close tonight.

Story County Auditor Lucy Martin told the Register machines did not read “certain ballot styles” at about 12 of the county’s 45 polling locations.

“We don’t know why,” she said. “The ballots were tested. The machines were tested.”

Martin said she will ask the Story County Supervisors during a special meeting Thursday morning to approve a recount.

A spokesperson for Iowa’s Secretary of State Office said department employees know about the problems in Story County.

“The auditor is working with the vendor and our office to resolve it,” said Ashley Esquivel Hunt. “It is not stopping anyone from casting a single ballot. It may impact how quickly we can report the results.”

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In Story County, voters fill out their ballots by filling bubbles next to their preferred candidates with pens. They slide the completed paper forms into machines, which are supposed to tally their decisions. But Brett Barker, chair of the Story County Republican Party, said some machines spit ballots back at voters.

He told the Register that election workers are piling the ballots into locked boxes on site. In some locations, he added, the boxes can’t hold every ballot. Election workers are putting the rest of the ballots into secure bags they keep on site.

The Republican Party says it has received reports about problems at nine of the county’s 45 sites.

Barker said he is recruiting more GOP poll watchers to observe the hand count in affected precincts.

“This is mostly about reassuring the public that their votes are counted,” he said. “If we are able to say things are observed, we can reassure people.”