Union County early voting back on track after a first-day ballot glitch in El Dorado

Early voting in Union County got off to a bumpy start Monday, Oct. 19, but election officials say it's running smoothly now. On the first morning, a software problem pulled up the wrong ballot on the voting machines for some voters at the El Dorado Municipal Auditorium, the El Dorado News-Times reported. One El Dorado voter got a ballot for Strong; another got Smackover's.

"The card that prints out tells us the right ballot, but it's not telling the machine the right ballot," Union County Election Coordinator Mike Hayes told the News-Times.

How they fixed it

The county election commission told the Arkansas Secretary of State's Office and the state Board of Election Commissioners right away. With the state's help, workers started picking the activation card that matched each voter's printout by hand. Hayes said workers did not touch anyone's ballot; they only made sure each voter got the right one. That slowed things down, and some people waited 30 to 45 minutes in a line that spilled out the door. By that afternoon the wait was about five minutes, he said.

Hayes told KNOE that the machines were back up and running by Monday afternoon and that things have gone smoothly since. The county's contractor, Electronic Systems and Services, worked on the problem into Monday night, the News-Times reported.

Turnout was 814 voters on the first day and nearly 1,150 by early afternoon Tuesday, Oct. 20, the News-Times reported.

When and where to vote early

All early voting in Union County is at the El Dorado Municipal Auditorium, 100 W. Eighth St.

• Weekdays through Friday, Oct. 30: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Saturday, Oct. 31: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Monday, Nov. 2 (last day): 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. You can check your registration and see your sample ballot on VoterView, and the Arkansas Secretary of State has more voter information.