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State fines Bibb County $2,250 for 2013 election foulups

Early voting led to confusion, as hundreds of voters complained that they were placed in the wrong districts or given ballots with the wrong races.

The state wants Bibb County to pay a $2,250 fine for election foulups in 2013 that left dozens of people voting on the wrong races.

The Bibb County Board of Elections on Tuesday reviewed a letter from the Georgia Secretary of State's office but took no action. They said they'd discuss the matter again in their June election.

Bibb County held an election in September 2013 to elect its first consolidated government and a runoff in October 2013.

But early voting led to confusion, as hundreds of voters complained that they were placed in the wrong districts or given ballots with the wrong races.

A state report on the mess cites at least three factors:

Bibb County drew up new voting districts as they merged governments with the City of Macon. But election officials didn't check every address to confirm that they were being placed in the right district.

The state transferred data from an old software system to a new one in 2013.

Bibb County's previous election supervisor Elaine Carr helped map out the new districts before retiring at the end of 2012.

Along with the other problems, Watson told investigators that "human error and her inexperience as a newly assigned supervisor all played a part in the districting issues," according to the state report.

Among other violations, the state found evidence that the board of elections placed at least 29 voters in the wrong commission districts during the September 2013 election and gave them the wrong ballots.

They also found that at least 79 voters were placed in the wrong districts during the October 2013 runoff and given the wrong ballots. Of those, 47 were at the Overlook Garden Apartments on Gray Highway and 32 at Bowden Home Apartments on Houston Avenue.

Larry Schlesinger defeated Henry Ficklin by 26 votes for the District 2 seat in that runoff.

The state investigated more than a dozen other alleged violations in the 2013 elections -- rejected most of them but finding evidence to support others.

Bibb election officials are expected to discuss next month whether to accept that $2.250 fine or appeal it.

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