Getty Images Its what most voters fear when they go in to fill out their ballots.
UPDATE 9 a.m: Potter County Judge Nancy Tanner released a statement this morning. It said, There is nothing wrong with any of the machines we use for voting. They do not flip your vote. They do not flip parties. Humans do that. It goes on to talk about the situation in Canyon: There was one incident in Randall County where a voter voted straight ticket and when they hit the vote button, it flipped parties
The machine was then checked and nothing was wrong with the machine.
View the entire press release here.
Original story: Early voting for the 2016 election started today (Monday, October 24th). The people of Potter and Randall County are taking this opportunity to skip the long lines that always file out of the voting locations on Election Day.
Its common to see pictures of the I Voted! stickers on social media. Its not as common to see the stories Ive been seeing today.
A voter from Canyon posted the experience she had while voting. Apparently, when she chose the straight Republican option, the ballot selected Clinton/Kaine instead of Trump/Pence.
Lisa Houlette
on Monday Gary and I went to early vote today...I voted a straight Republican ticket and as I scrolled to submit my ballot I noticed that the Republican Straight ticket was highlighted, however, the clinton/kaine box was also highlighted! I tried to go back and change and could not get it to work. I asked for help from one of the workers and she couldn't get it to go back either. It took a second election person to get the machine to where I could correct the vote to a straight ticket. Be careful and double check your selections before you cast your vote! Don't hesitate to ask for help. I had to have help to get mine changed.
The same story has been reported in Dallas.
Shandy Clark
on Monday Hey everyone, just a heads up! I had a family member that voted this morning and she voted straight Republican. She checked before she submitted and the vote had changed to Clinton! She reported it and made sure her vote was changed back. They commented that It had been happening. She is trying to get the word out and asked that we post and share. Just want everyone's vote to be accurate and count. Check your vote before you submit! Mary Sims-Beckham and Bradina Benson do y'all know how to report this?
Edit: this happened this morning In Arlington TX. Mon, Oct 24, 2016, which is also when I posted!
We spoke to the Randall County Elections Office and they were aware of this mistake but addressed it as user-error. They said that there are several voters each year who report that their ballots are mismarked, but they are usually caused by the voter accidentally selecting a different party.
Snopes addressed several stories that came out of Texas yesterday. Click here to read that article.
Tensions are especially high this year because of the controversial candidates running for president. There are many state and local offices on the ballot, so even if you arent sure about your presidential selection, try to get out and vote.
However, you should always double check your ballot, no matter which party youre affiliated with.
Click here to visit the Texas State Elections website. You can also contact the Potter County Elections Office at (806) 379-2299 or the Randall County Elections Office at (806) 468-5510.
Has this ever happened to you? Let us know!
Poster Comment:
By the time the votes are counted they'll have the machines adjusted to split the votes evenly between Gary Johnson(L), and Darrell Castle(C). Nothing to worry about.
The machines sense that there's no difference between Hillary and Trump.