Some Leander voters asked to use paper ballots

The elections office identified the problem at about 2 p.m. Oct. 20, Barnett said. The issue does not affect voters in any other part of Williamson County, he said.

During the first two days of early voting, some Block House Creek residents were asked to complete provisional ballots, which are used to record a vote when the person's voting eligibility is in question. Barnett said provisional ballots cast by registered Block House MUD voters would be processed as paper ballots, not provisionally.

"Those specific Block House [Creek] MUD voters who voted provisionally will be treated alternately from provisional ballots, because at that time it was the only paper ballot that allowed the voter full access to the candidate selections," he said.

Now through Election Day, Nov. 4, affected voters in the Block House Creek MUD are encouraged to use the emergency paper ballots instead of the electronic voting machines so they have access to all candidates, Barnett said. It is impractical to reprogram the machines before Election Day, he said.

"Texas is a voter intent state, so we have a ballot board that is comprised of members of both Democratic and Republican parties in November, and they evaluate each ballot and look for the intent of the voter," Barnett said. "Even if instructions say to fill in the oval and you make an 'X,' the intent is there and clear, and the ballot board will make the necessary corrections to the ballot so it will scan [and be counted] properly."

Editor's note: This story was updated from its original version to include information about the write-in candidate for the Block House Creek MUD board of directors race.