SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) – A technical glitch involving an electronic ballot collector delayed the election at the North Boonville Election Center in Springfield on Thursday morning.

Poll workers told unexcused absentee voters they could wait for the machine to be fixed or place the ballot in a steel box. A bipartisan team would then insert the ballots into the machine. Shortly thereafter, election teams added a second ballot collector.

Voters like Jaime Benson said this issue caused a lot of confusion among absentee voters.

“There was a woman behind me who went to drop off her ballot and asked me, ‘Is the brown box there where I should drop off my ballot?’” I told him no, it’s the trash recycling bin,” Benson said.

We asked Greene County Clerk Shane Schoeller if county leaders can open more locations so lines don’t get backed up in the future.

“In future elections, we’ll look at how we can add maybe one or two more locations. Also, let’s keep in mind that we have to have people there who can receive voters,” Schoeller said.

Greene County opened two electoral polling locations for no-excuse absentee ballots. The second location is at the Library Center in South Campbell.

Clerks ask you to know your ballot before you vote. CLICK HERE to obtain sample ballots for Ozarks counties.

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