County blames thumb drives.
QUICK FACTS:
- Cherokee County Kansas voting machines were found to be flipping votes cast for county commissioner from the incumbent to a new candidate, according to the County Clerk’s office.
- During a post-election audit of the votes cast, the Cherokee County Kansas Clerk’s office found that votes cast for incumbent District 1 County Commissioner Myra Frazier were mistakenly switched and attributed to challenger Lance Nichols due to a thumb drive error.
- Cherokee County released a statement on Monday about the unofficial election results of the August 2nd Kansas Primary Election.
- The Cherokee County Clerk’s Rebecca Brassart said of the mistakes, “The integrity of our elections is of the utmost importance to me and the team within the County Clerk’s Office.”
STATEMENT FROM COUNTY CLERK’S OFFICE:
- Brassart’s full statement: “The integrity of our elections is of the utmost importance to me and the team within the County Clerk’s Office. Upon discovering the improper programming, I immediately contacted representatives of Atchison, Kansas-based Lockwood Elections, who is responsible for programming the thumb drives used in our elections.”
- “The company recognized their error, and my office has since re-tabulated the ballots by a hand count audit, which resulted in Commissioner Frazier retaining her party’s nomination for the November General Election later this year. The Commission race was the only one impacted by the company’s error and I have already visited with both candidates impacted,” Brassart went on to say.
- “This is a good example of why we verify the accuracy of election results by conducting a post audit of election results, regardless of what the unofficial election night numbers might indicate. I again want to assure the citizens of Cherokee County how important election accuracy is to me and reiterate my commitment to ensuring every valid vote is properly counted.”
BACKGROUND:
- The vote-changing happened during their recent August 2 primary race and was caught during the post-election audit.
- Audits in Kansas only happen infrequently, as Kansas Revised State Statute KSA 25-3009 states outlines, saying that “two local races will be randomly selected” if other criteria are met.
- Additionally, at least five days before the audit, a notice of the time and location is offered on a county website, proposing ample time for changes.
