MACON, Ga. — Candidates running for Bibb County offices may have to wait until Friday before they know how their race turned out.
That's because there are about 10,000 outstanding absentee ballots that have to be entered into the computer system.
Bibb County Board of Elections Chairman Mike Kaplan says some absentee voters marked their ballots with an "X" or a check mark when they should have fully shaded in the bubble next to their candidate of choice.
According to Kaplan, the computer system flagged over 8,000 ballots on election day, and now, workers are having to go back individually and make sure each one is entered correctly into the electronic system.
Once all the absentees were gathered, including those dropped off in person on Tuesday, Kaplan says they realized they had closer to 10,000 ballots that had been filled out incorrectly.
"Our computer system is very sensitive. When you're in school and you had a test and you had to fill in the little hole, some people put an X, some people put checks, some people put a dot, and the computer is very sensitive and has picked up on the fact that those ballots weren't marked properly. So we're having to go back individually, electronically view the ballots, and make sure that the person they wanted to vote for is voted for," said Kaplan on Tuesday night.
The state has given all counties until the end of the week to count and process their absentee ballots.
The Secretary of State's office has not confirmed if other counties are having similar issues with their absentee ballots.
Election officials say thousands more people voted absentee this year, likely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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