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11-07-2004, 06:16 PM
The Anit-Dan
Kerry Looses More Texas Votes
LAST UPDATE: 11/7/2004 4:35:51 PM
State election officials are still working to correct vote tabulations from one South Texas county that incorrectly boosted Democratic Sen. John Kerry's performance.
The errors appeared after the Willacy County clerk, in an effort to save money on election materials, did not purchase some equipment necessary for voting machines.
As a result, election officials said they counted each vote for president from a straight-party ticket twice.
County Clerk Terry Flores said she saved the county $2,500 by ordering fewer memory packs for the voting machines.
"Right now, the county is in a very horrifying financial crunch and this is just a silly mistake. A very silly mistake," Flores told The Brownsville Herald in Sunday's editions.
She said the correct figures show that 4,959 people voted for president in Willacy County. Of those, 55 percent voted for Kerry and 45 percent for Bush, Flores said.
But county officials incorrectly reported to the Texas Secretary of State on Election Day that 7,882 people had voted for president, with 38 percent voting for President Bush and 61 percent voting for his Democratic challenger. Those figures were still posted on the Secretary of State Web site early Sunday.
Flores said she recognized the problem quickly on Election Night and contacted the Secretary of State office immediately. The misreported information affected only the numbers for the presidential elections, she said.
Officials in the Secretary of State's office were still working to correct the information, spokesman Bill Kenyon told the newspaper.
Flores said she bought only five of the 12 memory packs used to program the optical scanning voting machines - enough to tabulate accurate information - but she did not at first read the reports correctly. The memory packs tabulate results and produce a summary for the clerk.
Flores said that, now that she knows how to read the reports, she will continue using the software for future elections.
©2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Kerry Looses More Texas Votes
LAST UPDATE: 11/7/2004 4:35:51 PM
State election officials are still working to correct vote tabulations from one South Texas county that incorrectly boosted Democratic Sen. John Kerry's performance.
The errors appeared after the Willacy County clerk, in an effort to save money on election materials, did not purchase some equipment necessary for voting machines.
As a result, election officials said they counted each vote for president from a straight-party ticket twice.
County Clerk Terry Flores said she saved the county $2,500 by ordering fewer memory packs for the voting machines.
"Right now, the county is in a very horrifying financial crunch and this is just a silly mistake. A very silly mistake," Flores told The Brownsville Herald in Sunday's editions.
She said the correct figures show that 4,959 people voted for president in Willacy County. Of those, 55 percent voted for Kerry and 45 percent for Bush, Flores said.
But county officials incorrectly reported to the Texas Secretary of State on Election Day that 7,882 people had voted for president, with 38 percent voting for President Bush and 61 percent voting for his Democratic challenger. Those figures were still posted on the Secretary of State Web site early Sunday.
Flores said she recognized the problem quickly on Election Night and contacted the Secretary of State office immediately. The misreported information affected only the numbers for the presidential elections, she said.
Officials in the Secretary of State's office were still working to correct the information, spokesman Bill Kenyon told the newspaper.
Flores said she bought only five of the 12 memory packs used to program the optical scanning voting machines - enough to tabulate accurate information - but she did not at first read the reports correctly. The memory packs tabulate results and produce a summary for the clerk.
Flores said that, now that she knows how to read the reports, she will continue using the software for future elections.
©2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.