Incomplete ballots has been discovered in one precinct in Lehigh Acres. One section on the ballot is missing on almost 500 ballots intended for Lehigh Acres residents.
The Varsity Lakes neighborhood is the area that received the incomplete ballots. Some residents have already voted, but now they’re wondering how such a mistake could have happened.
David Lindsay is district manager for the Lehigh Acres Municipal Services Improvement District (formerly ECWCD). The board protects water reserves in a 100-square-mile area in Lehigh Acres and parts of Hendry County. Five commissioners are appointed to oversee operations. This year, three board seats are up for grabs, but some voters never saw it on their ballot.
Katy Hoover who is running for seat 5 in the Lehigh Acres Municipal Services Improvement District hopes that this issue is resolved quickly by sending out a supplemental ballot.
Nat Stout who is also running for seat 5 in the Lehigh Acres Municipal Services Improvement District as the incumbent, said he is aware of the issue and hopes no voter is left out
Mo Yasin who is running for seat 3 in the Lehigh Acres Municipal Services Improvement District, did not even know about the issue into the Lehigh Acres Gazette told him. Yasin, said this is so foolish, how could this happen.
The Lehigh Acres Gazette tried to reach Ken Thompson running for seat 3 and Dewy Tyler and Michael Welch who are running for seat 1.
“I think there’s a problem,” said Larry Hammond, who lives in Varsity Lakes and voted Tuesday as an early voter.
Precinct 4 and others near Lehigh Senior High School have been identified by the board of the Lehigh Acres Municipal Services Improvement District has having received those incomplete ballots.
Some voters said they’re questioning their ballots and even the upcoming results.
The Lehigh Acres Gazette called the Lee County election officials, who said they’re aware of the mistake that left voters with an incomplete ballot. They said they’re trying to figure out how to move forward with lawyers and the state Division of Elections.
Sharon Harrington the current Lee County Supervisor Elections would not speak to us directly, but her opponent Tommy Doyle said, “Everyone has a constitutional right to vote, this should have not never happen.”
Harrington needs to fix this issue ASAP by sending out a supplemental ballot to all the voters in this affected precinct, said Doyle.
According to Florida Election law, one of the election supervisor’s jobs is to make sure that all the ballots are 100% correct.
Some voters said they wonder if they’ll ever get to put in their two cents on the matter. There are more than 44,000 voters in the Lehigh Acres district, but residents say those 500 ballots could mean the difference between a candidate winning or losing.
“These 500 voters need to be heard,” Lindsay said.
Lee County election officials said they’re still working on a fix.