Voting machine oddity concerns voters

Voters making selections on Bella Vista’s bond issue were faced with a message claiming their entries were incomplete.

Voters decided on the questions of issuing $24.2 million in bonds backed by a 1% sales tax to cover the construction costs of a new police department, a raze and rebuild of Fire Station 3 and a fire training facility. Election results can be found in the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

But Bella Vista voters received a message indicating the form was incomplete and that no selection was made on these questions before printing their ballots.

Bella Vista resident Kevin Dooley was among those who saw this message.

“My concern, obviously, is that people get so confused that they go back and try to correct the error and they end up casting their vote in a way they didn’t intend to,” Dooley said. “This isn’t about whether people vote yes or no … I just want it to actually reflect what people want.”

Dooley said he posted on social media about his experience and heard from many other people who seemed to encounter the message.

While the machine did state no selection was made, the ballot printout did show his votes accurately, he said.

Kim Dennison, election coordinator with the Benton County Election Commission, said the message is produced because the voting machine’s software is looking for a response for the first page on Bella Vista’s election question, which is an explanation page that does not require a response.

Despite the message, votes are correctly transferred to the paper ballots that are printed.

“The machine is doing exactly what it’s supposed to,” she said. “We do an in-depth testing of our

equipment before it goes through the door. We put thousands of ballots through.”

The ballot boxes, which count votes based on a printout produced by voting machines, are also thoroughly tested to ensure they count accurately, she said.

Mayor Peter Christie said he also encountered this message while voting, though his vote was ultimately cast without issue.

Every election is a learning experience for volunteers, the election commission and voters, he said.

“It just caught everyone by surprise,” he said.

Ann Stee, a poll supervisor working at the Bella Vista Fire Department polling location, said anyone who’s having trouble with their voting machine should be sure to ask volunteers for help.

In one case, she said, someone was not happy with the selections the device printed out. Workers were able to invalidate the ballot and help the voter through once more, she said.

“We’re doing just fine here,” she said.

Dennison said printouts were added to the ballot boxes with a step-by-step guide for the Bella Vista vote, though she didn’t get enough feedback to know if they were helping.

It was also difficult to discuss this issue, she said, because she had heard very little from voters as of last Friday afternoon.

Anyone who’s concerned about the election process can call the commission at 479-271-1049 to get a more full explanation of why something may happen one way or another at a polling station or to give the commission his or her concerns, Dennison said.