Call Tells 12,000 Pinellas Voters Ballots Are Due Tomorrow
A glitch in the phone system caused the calls to go out.
Early on Election Day, the Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections Office made automatic calls telling voters them that they could vote until 7 p.m. Wednesday, the day after election day, according to Tampabay.com. Of course, polls close at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
Nancy Whitlock, with the Pinellas Supervisor of Elections Office told Patch that there were 12,310 calls placed between 8 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. Earlier reports said that perhaps only a few hundred people got the call.
All 12,310 were then called back with the correct information, Whitlock said.
The calls told voters who requested mail ballots but had not turned them in that they had until 7 p.m. tomorrow to turn them in.
Did you get one of these calls? Let us know in the comments section below.
Lynda
12:41 pm on Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Even with the best of intentions and training, human errors like this happen. Never in any script should the word "tomorrow" be used instead of the correct date. Someone wasn't thinking. And the errors by staff and volunteers can just multiply. When elections aren't close, these errors can be overlooked as the outcome isn't changed. However, in close elections where everything is under a microscope, the errors matter. Our voting systems are just not good enough for the 21st century. It is time to pay attention, spend money and fix the current systems. One place to start is to remove election responsibilities from all partisan officeholders.
Michael D.
1:05 pm on Tuesday, November 6, 2012
You sound like a software developer.