Glitch gives some voters 2 ballots

When most people apply for an absentee ballot, they only expect to get one. But some Utah County residents have found two absentee ballots in their mailboxes.

The Utah County elections office, which is supervising the election for all Utah County cities on Tuesday, had problems with a jammed printer earlier in the week, causing a double printing of a few ballots, said Sandy Hoffman, Utah County elections clerk.

Hoffman said the multiple printings are "not a countywide epidemic," nor are they a big deal. Only two people out of 2,500 received a double ballot, she said. About 20 ballots were reprinted.

The elections office has safeguards set up in order to ensure only one ballot gets entered into the final count.

The elections office uses a program called Vista, which is used statewide, that ensures only one vote. When a voter sends in an application for the ballot, elections officials scan the document's bar code and it is immediately updated in the system, said Bryan Thompson, Utah County clerk/auditor.

If the same person tries to send in another ballot or visits a polling place, the information from the bar code will show that a vote has been cast and will prohibit that person from voting again, he said.

The computers will register the first ballot and won't allow entry of subsequent ballots, he said.

Rather than trying to vote twice, any resident who receives an additional absentee ballot should just throw it away, Hoffman said.

A surprised American Fork man received a second absentee ballot after already voting and sending back his ballot. After notifying the elections office of the duplication, he shredded the second ballot.

Any resident who is registered and wants to vote can apply for an absentee ballot for any election. Residents who did not apply for an absentee ballot can vote at polling stations Tuesday. The election will include Referendum 1, the voucher issue, and individual city council and mayoral races.

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Contributing: Tad Walch

E-mail: csmith@desnews.com