FORT THOMAS, Ky. — A few Southgate residents accidentally voted in the Fort Thomas City Council race despite not living in that community, after poll workers mistakenly gave them the wrong ballots.
It happened just after 6 a.m. on Tuesday at the Southgate Community Center, a voting precinct used by residents of the neighboring communities of Southgate and Fort Thomas.
“We ascertained that about five people voted on the wrong ballot,” Campbell County Clerk of Court Jim Luersen said. “Fortunately, we were able to catch it early on.”
A concerned voter called at 6:20 a.m. and said poll workers had handed out a few wrong ballots, Luersen said.
“So, we went out, and we quarantined. We shut the machines down, and we sent out new machines,” Luersen said. “There were only 62 voters total from the time we opened until the time we got the new machines out there.”
WATCH: Campbell County quarantines voting machines after poll workers accidentally hand out a few wrong ballots
Five non-residents cast ballots in the Fort Thomas City Council primary race, which has 15 candidates. The top 12 vote-getters will move on to compete in the November general election for six at-large seats.
Luersen said he doubted that five ballots would make a difference in the city council race, but it would be “very easy to fix if we have to.”
“If it’s within less than a margin of five, I suspect what we’ll do is we’ll probably file an action in court to give us the authority to get into those machines and count by hand and ascertain which ones shouldn’t have been counted,” Luersen said. “Every Election Day is an adventure, but if this is the worst that happens, that’s not too bad.”
