Churchill County election officials have identified a ballot error affecting the Fallon City Council Ward 1 race after discovering that 881 ballots were issued without the Ward 1 contest, although those voters were eligible to vote in the race.
According to a media fact sheet released June 9, the issue affects only the Fallon City Council Ward 1 contest. County officials are still determining how many of the affected voters have already cast ballots.
Churchill County Clerk-Treasurer Linda Rothery said Tuesday night that the problem was traced to a mapping issue related to precinct and ward boundary files used in the election software.
Rothery explained that following redistricting and ward adjustments in 2021, the city worked to consolidate Ward 1 into a single precinct. During that process, election officials identified a problem with one of the geographic shape files used by the voter registration system and submitted corrected files.
This year, officials discovered another issue involving those mapping files.
"Our software was correct, but it didn't push into the voter registration side," Rothery said. "The process was done correctly. It just didn't finish the process."
Rothery said election staff discovered the problem on Monday and immediately began working with the Nevada Secretary of State's Office, Fallon city legal counsel, and the Churchill County District Attorney to determine the appropriate remedy.
Based on the information currently available, county officials said the most likely solution will be a special election for the Ward 1 contest.
Candidates were notified of the issue before the county released public information, according to the fact sheet.
At this time, officials have not said if other races are affected, but they continue to review the issue and will provide additional information as it becomes available.
There is a sliver of Churchill County that falls in Congressional District 4, and the voter report issued Tuesday night shows no votes having been cast. We will provide updates as more information becomes available.
Election officials are advising voters to wait for official instructions while the county determines the next steps.
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