Officials say programming error left nearly 600 Floyd County voters with incomplete early ballots

Floyd County election officials said nearly 600 voters in four precincts received incorrect early ballots after a programming problem affected how ballots were generated for the early voting period, according to a report from Louisville Public Media. Officials said the ballots were incomplete, meaning some voters did not receive the full ballot contents intended for their precinct.

The issue was tied to ballot programming, not voter selection or party decisions, officials said. Administrators said they identified the error and corrected the programming so future ballots would be complete. They also said they are reaching out to affected voters to explain what happened and provide a path to obtain replacement ballots.

According to the report, election staff worked to address the issue after it was discovered, and the county communicated with voters who may have been impacted. Officials’ stated goal is to ensure that voters who were affected can cast ballots that match their precincts and include all required contest information.

The report said the affected voters were in four Floyd County precincts, with the total number of voters estimated at nearly 600. Officials did not describe changes to precinct lines or voter eligibility in connection with the incident, focusing instead on the early-ballot programming error and its resulting impact on ballot completeness.

Replacement ballots are being provided through a process administrators described as contacting voters about how to get new ballots. The report indicated the response includes instructions for voters to replace the ballots they received, rather than allowing the incomplete ballots to stand.

Ballot problems during early voting can have significant consequences for public confidence, since early ballots are often used as a way to reduce election-day lines and improve convenience for voters. Election officials typically aim to identify and correct such errors quickly, while also documenting the scope of any affected batch and ensuring affected voters can complete their selections.

Election administration in Indiana, like other states, is governed by statutory requirements for ballot content, precinct assignment, and replacement procedures when ballots are wrong, damaged, or incomplete. In this case, county officials said they corrected the programming error and took steps aimed at giving impacted voters a complete ballot.

The county’s next steps, as described in the report, center on contacting voters in the four precincts, ensuring replacement ballots are available, and documenting the incident so election records reflect the corrected process for early voting. Voters who received notices or who believe they may have been affected were directed to follow the replacement instructions provided by election administrators.