Scanners had trouble reading inked ballots

Absentee ballots that were filled in with ink had to be reproduced by hand before new automated scanners could work, a county election official said.

This was the first year ballots in Red Willow County were scanned at the Courthouse by the electronic M650 machine, according to County Clerk Pauletta Gerver said.

A total of 265 absentee votes were cast by the May 4 deadline.

All 96 counties used the scanners for this primary, she said. Ballots in the 2004 election were scanned at precincts, she said, and then brought to the courthouse to be verified.

By 11 p.m., results from all 16 precincts in the county were completed except for the absentee ballots, she said.

Out of 7,774 registered voters in Red Willow County, 3,225 votes were cast in the primary.