New voting machines in Trigg County caused surprisingly few problems in the Primary Election held May 16. It was an older machine that proved to be the most controversial. A single, older type machine, in North Cadiz Precinct 1 omitted the County Coroner’s position and the two democratic candidates entirely.

The Republican Primary did not feature a candidate for the position.

County Clerk Wanda Thomas said that a voter pointed out the omission to election officials, who re-designated the machine for use by Republican voters only. The remainder of the ballot was printed completely and correctly.

Before the discrepancy had been discovered, five voters used the machine to cast their ballots. Thomas made a successful effort to telephone each of the five voters about the omission. She offered them a paper absentee ballot with only the coroner office’s two candidates, Clarissa King, and John Mark Vinson available for selection. These three votes were tabulated with other absentee ballots.

Three of the five voters availed themselves of this option.

Thomas attributed the error to the printing process, which went undiscovered until the election