St. Clair County Probate Judge Andrew Weathington said Wednesday morning. a ticket printing error that led to a two-hour extension of voting hours on Tuesday was handled as best as possible.

Weathington said he wasn’t sure how many provisional ballots were cast after hours because of the error, but he said those votes would count.

Through a court order issued in response to the situation, voting hours were extended from 7 pm to 9 pm in 15 precincts where two amendments were missing from the ballots, including one that specifically dealt with school boards in St. Claire.

Weathington said the county followed a state law governing such situations. He said people who lined up to vote after 7 p.m. at all 15 locations voted with provisional ballots, but he said they would be counted.

“I don’t know how many provisionals there were last night because those lists are sealed and all that is already done,” Weathington said.

“And then the board of registrars will get to work, I guess, today, and probably every day from now until next Tuesday, sorting through all that stuff, and then we’ll find out how many there are.”

The company that printed the ballots, Election Systems & Software (ES&S), said about 28,000 ballots were missing the two amendments. The company accepted blame for the error and printed replacement ballots on Tuesday.

Weathington said the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Office picked up the replacement ballots from the printer in Birmingham and brought them back to St. Clair.

“ES&S really stepped up once they got up and running and started printing,” Weathington said. “Our sheriff’s office did an incredible job picking up things and bringing them back to St. Clair County, and then dispersing them once they got here.

“I mean, everyone involved really stepped up. We had people all over the county reach out and ask how we can help. How can we be of any help? “It was a difficult thing to do, but it was amazing to see how everyone came together and fought.”

Unofficial election results released by the county showed that St. Clair County’s amendment received strong support, with 26,595 votes in favor, or 69%, compared to 12,018 votes against, or 31%.

Asked if he was confident that everyone who wanted to vote on the amendments would be able to do so, Weathington said: “I don’t know if there’s any way to answer that question. But I know we made every effort we could. “I feel like we did everything we could to make that happen.”