Election Scramble

Williams County elections officials had to scramble to fix a problem in the May 3 primary caused by a ballot printing issue by the county’s print vendor, Integrated Voting Systems. Now, with personal assurances from IVS representatives of new and improved safeguards, and with the lowest price, the Williams County Elections Board unanimously elected to go with IVS for the Aug. 2 primary. IVS will charge 0.26 cents per ballot, versus a second bid by RBM at 0.32 cents per ballot. The Election Day issues led to questions and complaints by several residents, including former Sheriff Steve Towns, who finished second in the Republican primary race for county commissioner. He called the election a chaotic mess and questioned whether enough potential voters were disenfranchised by the problems to affect the final tally.