Some Baker University students walked away from the voting booth with a dissatisfied feeling Tuesday after being given provisional voting ballots.
Several students, including sophomore Dani Weimholt and senior Tim Haynes, were told the address on their IDs did not match or that they were not on the list of registered voters and were given a provisional ballot.
Douglas County Election Officer Jamie Shew said while he did not know the total number for Baldwin City, 2,200 provisional ballots were cast in Douglas County.
Since provisional ballots are not counted until the official county canvas, or audit of election results, which is Monday, Haynes said he felt like his vote didn’t matter. He also was concerned his provisional ballot would be rejected in the canvas.
“This was so avoidable,” Haynes said. “Someone dropped the ball.”
Shew said he thought some voters probably were given provisional ballots who didn’t need them and the students who went in to vote did everything correctly, including offering Baker University student IDs as a valid form of identification.
The glitches weren’t limited to one voting venue. Haynes voted at Baldwin Primary Center while Weimholt, who also registered in Harter Union, went to the Baldwin City Fire Department where she was not on the list.
Bruce Anderson, associate professor of political science, is confident in the accuracy of the voter registration forms collected by students in Harter Union.
“Students did it entirely by the book,” he said. “They stood over their shoulders to be sure they were filled out right. They got them in early.”
Shew said he knew of no registration problem.
“I can only go off what we heard,” Shew said. “There were some provisionals that were based off IDs shown.”
Anderson said even a large number of new registered voters should not be an excuse for incomplete voter lists.
“There should never be too many, and they should never be overwhelmed,” he said.
Anderson said he thought more than 150 Baker students had received provisional ballots Tuesday while trying to vote.