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OGDEN, Utah (AP) -- A mix up in Weber County sent 270 absentee ballots from the wrong districts to voters in Huntsville, Washington Terrace and South Ogden.
"How could something like this happen?" said Eden resident Alan Wheelwright, who received a ballot for District 8, instead of District 6. "It seems like it's going to be a big problem. If anything is even close, it'll be contested for sure."
The problem was caused by a layout error and subsequent misprinting, said Scott Hogenson, Weber County's elections administrator. Only a fraction of the 4,000 mailed ballots were affected, he said.
The county responded quickly, sending out replacement ballots within three hours of identifying the problem, he said.
But Gage Froerer, a Republican candidate running for a vacant District 8 seat in the state House of Representatives, said the mistake has the potential to alter local elections, which sometimes are decided by fewer than 100 votes.
"They should have contacted us right off the bat and let us know," Froerer said. "This could be a very close race, and it could affect the outcome. This is not fair to either candidate or either party."
Democrat Rick Jones, the candidate for the House District 8 seat, was informed of the issue late Thursday. He said he won't make an issue of it despite the potential affect on his race.
Hogenson said the county included an explanation and a set of instructions when it mailed the correct ballots. The instructions advised voters to toss the faulty ballots in favor of new ones.
Absentee ballots already received at the elections office would be discarded and new ballots accepted, Hogenson said.
------ Information from: Standard-Examiner, http://www.standard.net
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
