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An error caused 251 Kansas City voters to cast ballots in the Aug. 4 election that omitted two at-large Jackson County races, a director for the Kansas City Election Board said Tuesday.
Lauri Ealom, the board’s Democratic director, said the mistake had only affected in-person absentee ballots cast starting on July 17 and election officials have worked quickly to contact affected voters.
“It’s under control,” Ealom said. “It’s our priority to ensure that and ensure that every single voter has the opportunity to cast a complete and accurate ballot.”
Affected voters have an opportunity to come back to the board’s main office to vote for the two omitted races on a supplemental ballot. Voters out of town will receive those ballots through the mail. The board is also sending nonpartisan teams to deliver the supplemental ballots to voters unable to visit the board’s office due to travel, illness or other issues, Ealom said.
Ealom made clear that those voters will not have to re-vote on every single issue. The supplemental ballots will only include the two omitted races, she said.
The error marks a chaotic start to Missouri’s Aug. 4 primary election that features several high-profile local and statewide votes. Ealom said she did not know how many affected voters had returned to cast new votes, adding that the board had “folks coming in left and right.”
Ealom did not immediately return a follow-up call to clarify which specific races were omitted from the ballots. The ballot includes three at-large races for the Jackson County Legislature.
Justice Horn, a Democratic candidate for the Jackson County Legislature, said he did not know whether his race was affected. Horn said he was shocked to learn about the error and worried it could cast doubt on the election.
“We’re giving fodder for people to be like, ‘OK, we’re going to try and throw those out or we’re going to challenge the ballots,’” Horn said. “That’s what was spinning through my head the entire time.”
Ealom left unclear what caused the error, saying it was too technical to explain and did not want to cause further alarm about the process. However, she touted that election officials were working to correct the issue.
“We’ve acted expeditiously to correct this issue, notify affected voters and provide multiple convenient options to ensure every vote is counted,” she said.
