Nashville Voters Given Wrong Ballots, Votes Cast For Candidates In Other Districts

Image Credit: capitol.tn.gov

The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –

Nashville voters were given incorrect ballots and cast votes for candidates not in their districts the Associated Press reported on Tuesday.

The Davidson County Election Commission was not aware of the issue until The Associated Press alerted them of the problem. Early voting has been in operation for the last two weeks. 

Jeff Roberts, the county’s Election Commission Administrator, said yesterday that the error has since been resolved. 

“Mistakes happen,” Roberts said on Tuesday. He was unsure if the same issue had cropped up elsewhere in the state.

Interactive maps from the comptroller’s office and the Legislature had voters listed in different districts than the secretary of state’s office.

Roberts was reluctant to blame any particular state or local entity for the error. He said, “Without more information, I would start off by saying we have to assume we did not do something right before we throw shade at the state.”

Julia Bruck, spokesperson for the secretary of state’s office, told the AP that information on GoVoteTN, the state’s election app, comes from individual counties and local election commissions. 

Incorrect ballots were given to 190 voters for Congressional races. Of those 190, 6 voted in the wrong state House race, and 16 for the wrong state Senate race. Some Nashville residents who were redistricted for the newly redrawn 5th Congressional district voted in the 7th instead, some who should have voted in the 7th cast a vote for a candidate in the 5th, and some voted in the 6th district who are zoned for the 7th.

When Tennessee Republican state lawmakers redrew District 5 earlier this year, Nashville was split between Districts 5, 6, and 7. Democratic U.S. Representative Jim Cooper was quick to announce his retirement after 32 years in office as Nashville’s congressman. 

Residents in District 5 will choose between Republican Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles, Democratic Heidi Campbell, or three Independent candidates.

In the District 6, U.S. Representative John Rose is running for another term and faces off with Democrat Randal Cooper.

Republican incumbent U.S. Representative Mark Green is running against Democratic candidate Odessa Kelly in District 7. 

Roberts said he was very confident that there was nothing sinister behind the errors with the ballot in Davidson County and was focused on a more pressing problem: one of the polling locations under his care was down 60% of its workers due to illness yesterday.

In order not to discourage voter turnout, he declined to say which location was struggling.

One of our sources tells us that due to the ballot bungle, some Davidson County residents are calling for Roberts’ resignation.

About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.