Voting issues called local

Election officials to file response

NASHVILLE — Democrats in the state legislature and state election officials exchanged letters Tuesday over problems in the Aug. 2 election, with election officials saying they were mostly confined to Shelby County.

Meanwhile, Shelby County Administrator of Elections Richard Holden said he will respond Wednesday to detailed questions from state officials about those problems, which may have caused nearly 3,200 local voters to receive incorrect ballots.

Tuesday’s developments were the latest in an ongoing story about issues in the Aug. 2 state primaries, county general elections and municipal referendums.

State Election Coordinator Mark Goins last week asked Holden a series of questions about voters placed in the wrong districts and given incorrect ballots as a result. The questions included: when did local election officials start the redistricting process?, who had oversight?, which employees worked on it?, when did Holden realize there was a problem?, what were the sources of the errors made?, whether local officials checked maps to confirm changes were correct, and whether disciplinary action has been taken.

Goins asked similar questions about voters in an area annexed by Collierville last year not being assigned as resident voters in the city, although the municipal school district referendum was on the Collierville ballot. The letter asked when the local Election Commission received the information from Collierville needed to update voter records.

Holden said Tuesday he will meet Goins’ request to respond by Wednesday. He also said he has not finished reviewing an analysis by Germantown resident Joe Weinberg that estimated nearly 3,200 Shelby County voters were affected by the problems with incorrect