Elections chief says ‘no conspiracy’ in voting machine glitch

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Accuracy is one of the most important things voters care about during elections, but there are questions in New Hanover County after voting machines were casting the wrong votes.

Yesterday was the first day of One Stop Voting. New Hanover County Elections Director Bonnie Williams says during that first day voting machines were choosing the wrong candidate. That has some people questioning the integrity of the board of elections.

Williams said the touch-screen machines needed to be recalibrated. She said this is the first time the county has ever had issues with the machines casting the wrong vote.

“I know this sounds disturbing, but it’s simply an issue that the touch screen lost its calibration,” Williams said. “There’s no conspiracy. The Board of Elections operates in a non-partisan fashion, and we really don’t have a preference as to who wins the election.”

Williams said the New Hanover County Government Center and the Carolina Beach One Stop Voting location had the calibration problems. She said there were no problems reported today with the machines.

Even though the problems have been fixed Williams said they will continue to actively keep an eye on the machines. She said she would never want to jeopardize the integrity of the Board of Elections.