A sign outside the polling place for the re-vote. (Photo by Stephen Koranda)Some voters in Topeka cast ballots for the second time in the primary election. A mix-up on Election Day at one Topeka polling place meant some voters received the wrong ballots, so they got a do-over. KPR’s Stephen Koranda visited the polling place and has this report.
More than 400 people originally cast ballots at the polling place with the mix-up, so they were eligible to re-vote. By noon, around 100 had shown up and cast a new ballot. Kit Pittier (PUH-teer) says she remembered the special election that morning.
“And then I realized it was the re-vote today, and at first I thought there’s no way, I have a meeting after work, there’s no way I can make it out here.”
Pittier (PUH-teer) was able to find some time in her day to stop in and cast a new ballot.
“I just feel like it’s my duty. And since it got messed up – it’s a little irritating that it got messed up – but I feel like I want my vote to get counted.”
The original mix-up on Election Day was caused by a poll worker who wasn’t following her training and made a mistake. Shawnee County Election Commissioner Elizabeth Ensley Deiter (DYE-ter) says her office has instituted new training policies and other changes to help prevent that type of problem in the future.