Four precincts in Oxford Township ran out of ballots as voter-turnout was much heavier than expected.
Clerk Clara Sanderson said she ‘didn’t realize that many people? were going to vote in the general election.
Of the township’s 13,673 registered voters, a total of 7,547 (or 55.20 percent) cast a ballot in the general election. Sanderson said she had originally estimated a 51 percent turnout when she ordered ballots, which led voter Precincts 1, 3, 4 and 7 to run out of them.
‘It was a miscalculation on my part,? she said. ‘I can’t say how sorry I am.?
Ballot shortages in those four precincts forced the township to issue photo copies of ballots to voters.
Since those ballots could not be read by the optical scanner machines, they had to be counted by hand.
The number of photocopied ballots delivered to the precincts ranged from 74 in Precinct 3 to approximately 300 in Precinct 7, according to Sanderson. ‘It will never happen again that’s for sure,? Sanderson said.
Voter-turnout in Addison was also high.
Of the township’s 4,721 registered voters, a total of 2,955 (or 62.59 percent) cast a ballot Tuesday. When ballots for certain school districts ran low in two precincts and ran out in Precinct 3, more were picked up and delivered, said Clerk Pauline Bennett, who noted no voters in Addison had to use photocopied ballots.
Addison is served by four school districts ? Oxford, Lake Orion, Romeo and Almont.