Right place, wrong ballot

Michael D. Clark reports:

DEERFIELD TWP. – Kings Superintendent Charles Mason was up at 6:30 a.m. today and one of the first to vote in his neighborhood precinct -- only to find his district’s $27.2 million bond issue was not on the ballot handed to him.

"I live in South Lebanon and the precinct is split with some of the homes in Kings school system and others in Little Miami schools. The poll workers were supposed to give me the right ballot but they didn’t," said Mason. "The poll workers are supposed to know what they are doing."

"It should never happen, especially in an election as important as this one. Even those who oppose our bond issue need to be able to vote on it," he said.

Kings school officials e-mailed a notice this afternoon alerting voters at split precincts to make sure they receive the proper ballot if they live within the Warren County school system.

Susan Johnson, director of the Warren County Board of Elections, said the problem affected only "a couple of people at one precinct early today and the problem was caught and corrected early."

Johnson said there have been no other reports of similar problems at other precincts.