Dozens of Brunswick voters given incorrect ballots

Nearly 150 voters at one early voting site in Brunswick County were given the wrong ballot last week, forcing county elections officials to discard those ballots, officials said Tuesday.

Sara Knotts, director of the Brunswick County Board of Elections, said officials are trying to contact the affected voters to offer them another chance to cast their ballots.

"We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience to these voters, and we have taken steps to prevent this from happening again," Knotts said in a statement.

Poll workers didn't properly pull up ballots for 147 voters on the touch-screen voting machines at the Leland Cultural Arts Center between last Wednesday and Friday, officials said. The county is split between two state House districts, and the voters were given the ballot for the wrong House district.

Procedures have been put in place at all one-stop locations in the county to ensure the errors won’t be repeated, officials said.

For voters who decide to vote new ballots, the original ballot will be discarded, and only the new, correct ballot will be counted, officials said. For voters who decide not to vote new ballots, their votes will be counted for all races, except for the state House race.

Anyone who voted at the Leland Cultural Arts Center during the period in question can email their name, address and phone number to sara.knotts@brunswickcountync.gov to find out if they are among the affected voters.