An apparent coding glitch caused mail-in ballots that were not returned to show up as counted during the recent Nevada presidential primary.
The purported glitch was allegedly a technical issue that resulted from “legacy systems” that, according to the secretary of state’s office, necessitate additional steps that were not taken. Vote tabulation, which is handled at the county level, was not impacted by the glitch, voting officials said.
The error was first reported on Sunday when numerous Republicans contacted officials after seeing their vote history indicate that they had voted in the primary when, in fact, they had not.
“It’s just so frustrating,” Daphne Lee said in a phone interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “This makes everyone uncomfortable.”
A fix for the error is underway, but it could take some time before all the records are verified and checked. Chairman of the Nevada Republican party, Michael McDonald, who previously has criticized the way the state handles mail-in ballots, has called for an investigation into how the error happened and what consequences may have resulted from it.
“We take these reports very seriously,” McDonald said in a statement on Monday. “The cornerstone of our Republic is the trust and confidence of the American people in the electoral process. Any indication of irregularities must be thoroughly investigated to ensure the integrity of our elections.”
The Nevada Secretary of State’s office said Monday that all erroneous files “have been identified,” and the office, in tandem with IT support staff and county officials, is in the process of updating records to remove inaccurate voter history. A “comprehensive report will be issued as soon as is practical,” according to the state office.
The office confirmed that the error did not affect vote counts, which saw GOP contender Nikki Haley lose to “none of the above candidates,” as reported by The Dallas Express. Former President Donald Trump was not on the primary ballot, which does not impact the assignment of delegates. Nevada uses a complex system in which the Republican party holds both a primary and a caucus, but only the caucus counts toward assigning delegates for the nominating convention.
