An error on the ballot for the March 2 Democratic Primary resulted in the reprinting and mailing of about 350 absentee ballots mailed overseas and about 10 mailed locally.
Stephen “Steve” Brown, candidate for chair of the Fort Bend Democratic Party, caught the error and contacted Fort Bend County Elections Administrator John Oldham Tuesday, Jan. 27. The ballot, submitted by current Democratic Chair Elaine Bishop, had Brown listed as “Stephan Brown,” the first name misspelled and omitting the shortened “Steve.”
“It may seem like a small thing, but my campaign materials, which were planned months in advance, are affected by the misspelled listing and the omission of my nickname, which is how I am known to voters around the county,” said Brown. “My website, social networking tools, mail advertisements, and signs all use the name ‘Steve,’ which is how I was told my name would appear on the ballot, and which is how it has appeared in the past.”
Oldham spoke to Bishop later that evening, and he says she apologized for the typo and told him t “do whatever he needed to do” to get it fixed.
“How this happened I don’t know,” said Oldham. “All we do is receive what we have as the official ballot drawing results, that’s the one that had Stephan.”
Oldham said he was informed by the Fort Bend County Attorney’s Office and legal counsel for the Secretary of State Elections Office that the mistake was not considered what is called a “fatal error,” therefore his office was not required to reprint and remail the ballots.
“There was never any doubt in my mind that we would correct that spelling, even though the Secretary of State said we didn’t have to,” said Oldham. “But I think people deserve to have their names spelled correctly.”
Oldham said the mistake was corrected in the system by Thursday, but that he and Brown disagreed on the need to mail a new set of absentee ballots, calling it a waste of time because of the limited number of people who actually get them. He said that of the 350 mailed out, he expected at least 300 to be undeliverable, primarily because of military personnel moving.
In the end, he agreed to reprint and mail corrected ballots at the cost of a little more than $100 in order to prevent “potential litigation.”
Currently, the list of candidates on the Fort Bend County Democratic Party’s website has Brown’s name listed as “Steven Brown” and Fort Bend County reads “Fort Bend Country.”
Ft. Bend commissioners fail to set election poll time schedules, all early 2010 election poll sites schedules are on unequal poll schedules. All polls must be set close at the same time(8am-7pm) to voters.
n the end, he agreed to reprint and mail corrected ballots at the cost of a little more than $100 in order to prevent “potential litigation.”
What, more costs and litigation against the county on something like this? No wonder our politicians take us to the cleaners every year at tax time. They have huge egos that must be fed!