Election officials: 17 voted in wrong district | Elections | Macon.com

Bibb County election officials said Friday that 17 voters from District 3 cast votes in District 2 during early voting for the Sept. 17 election to decide the new Macon-Bibb County consolidated government.

Elections Supervisor Jeanetta Watson said that of the 788 voters who were supposed to have been listed in District 3, 17 of them cast ballots before Thursday’s discovery that those names were assigned incorrectly to District 2.

In addition, 20 absentee ballots among the 788 were mailed out with the wrong names on the ballot, but Watson said officials are sending out replacement ballots to those people.

Watson said it was a regrettable mistake, but one that occasionally happens when redistricting is involved.

Because of the new map, as well as changes such as new subdivisions opening in Bibb County, Watson said it’s nearly impossible to check to make certain everyone is voting in the right district. She urges voters with questions about their districts to check with her staff before casting a ballot.

Virgil Adams, Bibb County’s attorney, said Friday he has been researching the issue, but he said those votes will likely be counted since there’s no way to go into the system and remove the incorrect votes. And voters can’t vote twice, even if the first votes were cast in the wrong district.

via Election officials: 17 voted in wrong district | Elections | Macon.com.