Williamson County’s Election Office will be reissuing approximately 8,000 ballots-by-mail that were distributed missing a candidate’s name in a statewide election, according to a news release.
Under the Presiding Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals race, the ballots should have listed three candidates: a Republican, a Democrat and a Libertarian. Due to an editorial error, the Libertarian candidate, William Bryan Strange, III, was not listed on the ballots, the release said.
“We regret the mistake we made, and we are working diligently to rectify this situation. We are expediting production of the corrected ballots-by-mail and expect to mail them next week. We ask anyone who received a Williamson County ballot-by-mail to wait and use the corrected ballot they will be receiving,” said Chris Davis, Williamson County elections administrator, in the release.
Part of the corrective process includes revising online sample ballots and reprogramming the electronic voting machines used for in-person voting beginning Oct. 22.
“We are working to ensure that every voter has the correct ballot in front of them when they vote,” Davis said in the release. “I informed the Libertarian Party county chair of our mistake and outlined the corrective measures we are taking.”
Davis said the Elections Office will be thoroughly vetting their internal processes and specifically improving ballot proofing procedures with more redundancy to avoid any future ballot missteps, the release said.
Early voting begins Oct. 22 and ends Nov. 2. The last day to apply for a ballot-by-mail is Oct. 26. Election Day is Nov. 6.