Voters received the wrong ballots at the First Assembly of God Church in Bentonville until midday, said Kim Dennison, election coordinator for the Benton County Election Commission.
Vennison said volunteer poll workers were confused on which ballot to give voters.
“The ballots they should have received should have had a city council race on it,” Dennison said. “The ballot they received only had county options.”
Contested city council races that should have been on the ballot include Ward 3 candidates Bill Burckart and James Smith, Ward 3 candidates Ed Austin and Leah Williams, Ward 1 candidates Mary Baggett and Stephanie Orman, Ward 1 Chris Sooter and Joey Williams, Ward 4 candidates Octavio Sanchez and Burton Head.
“This is something I can do nothing about,” Dennison said. “It is one of those things where the voters should have known what they were voting on. Once they got to the machine they should not have voted.”
Dennison said she fixed the issue after receiving a call at 11 a.m.
More than 16,500 paper ballots were ordered for the election and an additional 2,500 were printed throughout early voting, Dennison said. Ballots were also printed throughout this morning as needed, but she did not have a total.
Dennison said most of the 57 precincts were out of paper ballots by early afternoon.
