Folks were complaining last Tuesday night during the primary election as Calhoun County results failed to appear on the Supervisor of Elections office website as early as others around the region.
In addition, results from the W.T. Neal Civic Center, where several precincts are now located, were held up for an hour. Results are typically transmitted via computer modem from the voting location to the Elections office just a few minutes after the polls close. Poll workers at the W.T. Neal Civic Center wound up delivering the tabulating machine to the Elections office just after 8 p.m. for the results to be uploaded on site.
Supervisor of Elections Margie Laramore says there was a technical problem transmitting results via phone line to the Elections Office, but that problem has been handled. She added that poll workers have been instructed to deliver the machines to the Elections Office immediately if the problem arises again.
VR Systems, the company that manages the elections equipment, sent a letter to Laramore apologizing for the problems her team encountered loading election results. “It is clear from our logs that Calhoun County’s staff performed all of the correct update processes and attempted to do so well within the planned time-frames,” said the company rep, who committed to correct the problems.