BRINNON — More than 200 Brinnon residents opened their election packets to find that they had no way to vote.
A procedural problem in the Jefferson County Auditor’s office led to an estimated 211 packets being mailed out without the official ballot enclosed, said Jefferson County Auditor Donna Eldridge.
Eldridge said the missing ballots were sent out to voters Friday via first class mail and should have arrived in mailboxes on Saturday.
“I have talked to many, many voters about the problem,” Eldridge said.
“During the process we realized some voters from Brinnon did not have the ballots enclosed.
“We have fixed it, and I want to apologize personally to those that it affected.”
Eldridge said the mistake occurred among ballots for Brinnon residents with last names starting in O, P, R and S.
“We now have a new procedure in process so this will not happen again,” Eldridge said.
“What happened was at one point there was a tray of ballots on my desk that had not had their ballots inserted, and they accidently went out front to be mailed.
“Now we will have a checksheet in every tray that must be checked every time.”
Eldridge said the mistake would cost the county about $125 in postage to re-send the ballots.
“If there is an occasion where another voter doesn’t get a ballot, please call me,” Eldridge said.
“We will print one out and send it immediately.”
For more information regarding missing ballots, contact Jefferson County Auditor Donna Eldridge at 360-385-9118.
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Reporter Erik Hidle can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at erik.hidle@peninsuladailynews.com.
