Election error: Voting machine hiccup flips local election in New Jersey

Jack Birle

January 17, 06:16 PM January 17, 06:16 PM

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A tabulation error with a voting machine in New Jersey caused the results of a local school board race to change nearly two months after the election.

Both candidates in the race for a seat on the Ocean Township school board have been notified, per a report from the New Jersey Globe.

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Voting machines from Election Systems and Software incorrectly double counted some votes “due to USB flash media being loaded twice into the results reporting module.”

The company told the Washington Examiner the error affected six voting districts.

“At Monmouth County’s request, ES&S recently reviewed the county’s election data, which revealed that a technician inadvertently loaded votes twice in error. Typically our software blocks this from happening. Unfortunately, a human error in a July software reinstallment missed the step that would have flagged the mistake. This anomaly is isolated to Monmouth County. The integrity of elections are ultimately protected by a series of checks and balances, and we’re grateful for an audit that revealed this human error,” the company told the Washington Examiner.

The error was discovered during a post-election audit. Results in the school board race between Steve Clayton and Jeffrey Weinstein show Weinstein winning by one vote. The tabulations had previously shown Clayton winning by 20 votes. The initial results showed Clayton winning 3,523 to 3,503.

In response to the machines not catching the error, the company says it “will reinstall the election management system, which will ensure the system is optimized to detect and block duplication of USB flash media results.”

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Election Systems and Software called the tabulation error an “isolated incident [that] occurred due to a human procedural error. An audit of the system yielded this information.”

They also pledged to “work with Monmouth County to ensure all necessary steps are taken to ensure election accuracy.”