Some Nevada voters will receive new ballots after an error listed Lynn Chapman, running for Nevada’s second congressional district under the Independent American Party label, as a member of the Democratic Party.
The error, first reported by the Nevada Appeal over the weekend, incorrectly lists Chapman as a Democrat on ballots in Carson City for Nevada’s second congressional district. Chapman, who is a member of the Independent American Party, is one of four candidates seeking the position, alongside Republican Mark Amodei, Libertarian Javi Tachiquin, and non-partisan candidate Greg Kidd.
Since the error was discovered, the Carson City Clerk-Recorder’s office has issued a statement saying it would resend mail ballots with Lynn’s correct party affiliation. While no reason was provided for what caused the printing error, the City Clerk-Recorder’s office clarified that only one of the two ballots will be counted.
“Return ballot envelopes have unique IDs assigned to the voter and in-person voters are tracked through Nevada’s Voter Registration Election Management System, ensuring that only one ballot will be counted,” the statement reads.
The statement further explains that voters who received an incorrect ballot will begin receiving corrected versions next week. Those who have already submitted their original ballot are also asked to complete and return the corrected version. Additionally, if a voter does not submit the corrected ballot but has already sent in the incorrect one, the initial incorrect version will still be counted.
The Independent American Party of Nevada is the state affiliate of the Constitution Party. According to the Nevada Secretary of State’s office, it is the third largest party in the state, with 88,248 active registered voters as of this month, trailing behind the Democratic and Republican parties, and excluding non-partisan voters. Local data from Carson City, where the error occurred, also confirms the Independent American Party as the third largest party as of last month.
Huh. When a ballot error only affects third-parties or independents, they come up with endless excuses for why nothing can be done, even months before the election. But when it might draw votes away from one of the uniparty candidates, suddenly replacement ballots can be printed, and even sent out, less than a month before the election… Isn’t n?a?t?u?r?e? democracy amazing?