Troup County Commission candidate Ken Ragan discovered something unusual when he went to vote at the Troup County Government Center today – he wasn’t on the ballot for his district.
An mistake listed Ragan in District 5 instead of District 2, but Chief Registrar Amy Hyatt said the error only affected a small area and no one who would’ve experienced the error, other than Ragan, had come in to vote.
“When he brought it to our attention, we checked and it affected no votes toward him,” Hyatt said. “We corrected it. Problem solved.”
The error stems back to last July, when a proposed redrawing of district lines in the wake of the 2010 census would have put Ragan in District 5. Ragan, who already intended to run against District 2 Commissioner Buck Davis, felt the commission was intentionally trying to cut him out of the race.
Commissioners agreed to redraw the lines, keeping Ragan in District 2. However, the ballot still registered some areas around Hunt Road as being in District 5 and voters in the affected area would’ve seen Ragan on their ballot as a candidate for that district, which is not up for election this year.
Anyone who voted in District 2 outside of the affected area did not experience the error, Hyatt said. Ragan said there was a possibility the error could have affected him with about 100 voters in the area, but was lucky to discover the snafu first.
“What if I had come at the last day,” Ragan asked. “Or if some older people had come in to vote. They told me if I had hit that ballot, it would be too late to do anything about it.”
Ragan said everyone in the area needs to check and make sure they are in the right district before completing their ballot.
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