HENRY COUNTY, Ga. — McDonough Mayor Sandra Vincent is concerned about various issues with the 2023 municipal elections in Henry County. She's calling on the Georgia Secretary of State to investigate.
"There were approximately eight of them who ended up calling [the first week of early voting]," Vincent said. "They were frustrated because their candidate was not on the ballot."
It's unclear how many people could have been affected by ballot issues in Henry County. The Board of Elections and Voter Registration didn't return 11Alive's call on Thursday.
However, in a statement dated Oct. 27, it acknowledged a "series of issues" that occurred this election cycle.
One discrepancy affected voters in the City of Hampton, where it instructed them to choose one candidate for City Council when it should have allowed for the selection of up to three, the board said.
"We were alerted of the discrepancy 16 minutes after the polls opened on Oct. 16," it wrote. "Our office quickly verified with the Hampton City Clerk that they had in fact made an error in submitting their ballot to us."
It said the ballots were fixed by Oct. 19; voters were given provisional ballots in the meantime. That's when it became aware of other issues in the county.
"In the course of reviewing this concern, the Secretary of State's election vendor KNOWiNK recognized that there were errors with the electronic ballots they had provided for several areas of McDonough and Stockbridge," it said. "Our office has been in constant contact with the Secretary of State's Office and its vendor KNOWiNK in working to help promptly resolve their electronic ballot issues. We have also reiterated to poll workers and staff the process of utilizing provisional ballots when issues arise."
Vincent wrote a three-page letter to the Georgia Secretary of State outlining her concerns, including a change of polling location, malfunctioning voting machines and incorrect ballots.
She believes the problems are fixed for future voters. Still, she's concerned about those who cast ballots with incomplete or incorrect information.
"To find that there were errors that were repeatedly being made as a result of whatever is extremely concerning, because ultimately what that does is dilute the confidence of the voters in the voting process," Vincent said. "We have to take a look when it's broken and make sure that it's fixed because this is one of only a few sacred systems that still exist within our communities... We've got to make sure it's right."