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Ballot review flags name‑formatting and ballot‑style mismatches at Owen County clerk meeting
Summary
During a multi‑hour ballot review the board and staff identified formatting problems — missing suffixes, hyphenation and activation code mismatches — and agreed to apply corrections and sync ballot style sorting before publishing.
Board staff led a precinct‑by‑precinct ballot review during which they read candidate names aloud and asked the board to confirm spelling, suffixes and ballot formatting. Staff repeatedly flagged mismatches between candidate filings and how names appeared on machine and absentee ballots (for example, missing a suffix such as "the third" in one candidate's ballot name and inconsistent hyphenation of a delegate’s surname). A staff member told the board "we need a correction on the ballot then for that one," and the chair directed a global removal of an incorrectly placed comma for suffixes.
The board also discussed activation codes and ballot styles: O1/O2 codes indicate party activation (O1 Republican, O2 Democrat) and the county report is sorted by ballot style, which can make the printed order non‑alphabetical. Members emphasized the need to sync the cheat sheet, punch‑card IDs and activation codes before signing off to ensure each precinct's ballots match the intended activation and style.
Staff identified multiple small, fixable items — name formatting, county precinct IDs and ballot‑style sorting — and the board directed staff to make global corrections where appropriate and to continue the line‑by‑line verification process. The review paused for a short recess and resumed; staff planned to continue proofs and corrections prior to finalizing the Can 9 packet for publication.
The ballot review produced no formal policy changes; it was an operational verification step before ballot publication and before early voting opens.
