Long lines and ballot jams reported in Morgan County on Election Day
By Bayne Hughes
For the Enquirer
With long lines of voters Tuesday morning and expectations by voting officials that turnout will be even higher than the last two presidential elections, the voting precinct at Priceville Recreation Center reported ballot jams on both voting machines.
Bennich Road resident Lindy Smith said voters were unable to put their ballot in the two machines, so their ballots were being put in a slot underneath the machine for later counting.
“We were just concerned because we don’t want anything to be misinterpreted,” Smith said. “It doesn’t matter who you are voting for, it’s a concern.”
Morgan County Probate Judge Greg Cain said a technician is on his way to the precinct on Marco Drive for what is not an uncommon occurrence.
“It’s probably a ballot jam,” Cain said. “Sometimes the voter holds the ballot too long. We had problem in the primary in which poll workers didn’t tear the ballot off properly at the stub. They have to make sure they’re careful when they tear off the ballot.”
Cain said the emergency procedure for when a voting machine doesn’t work is to put the ballot in the emergency bin on the machine. At the end of the day, an election official will feed the ballots into a machine so they are counted properly.
Cain said 88,620 registered to vote in Morgan County for the general election. In comparison, 85,552 registered in 2020 with a 63% turnout despite the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2016, 75,778 registered to vote with a 67% turnout.
“We’ve had long lines so far this morning, much longer than usual,” Cain said. “I expect turnout to be much heavier than the two previous presidential elections.”
Polls will be open until 7 p.m.
