Board orders administrative audit after tabulator jam left one ballot uncounted in Waverly Ward 5

Bremer County election officials told the Board of Supervisors that a ballot jam at a Waverly Ward 5 polling place produced a discrepancy between the physical ballot count and the tabulator tally. The board authorized an administrative audit to rerun the package so that the remaining ballot can be properly counted.

Shelley told the board that election workers reconciled voter checks and concluded the physical count showed 272 ballots and 272 voters, while the tabulator had tallied 271. "They did count the actual physical ballots that were in there and there were 272 ballots, 272 voters, but the tabulator counted 271," Shelley said.

Stephanie, an elections staff member, explained typical jam procedures and why machines sometimes report one count different from the physical ballots: when a ballot jams it can become mixed in the bin, require a password to re-scan or can be handled in a way that creates training confusion. She described the county’s plan to use the absentee board to rerun the package and obtain a final tally.

Board members noted the discrepancy was unlikely to affect statewide races but said an audit was necessary to ensure the official county canvass is accurate. The board moved, seconded and voted to order the administrative audit for the affected Waverly Ward 5 package. Staff said the audit would be performed using the county’s absentee board to rerun the ballots and produce a final, verified count for that precinct.

At the meeting staff also reviewed election administration metrics from the primary: the county reported a 15.7% turnout countywide, two ballot jams during the day across the county, one provisional ballot and about 2% of votes cast by absentee.