Alabama election officials investigating voting mix-up in two Republican-only State House races

The chairman of the Alabama Republican Party says party officials are “incredibly upset” about a mix-up in Etowah County. The confusion might have caused some primary voters to get ballots for the wrong legislative district. Secretary of State John Merrill and Etowah County Probate Judge Scott Hassell say the problem affected House of Representatives Districts 28 and 29. They say they learned on the day of the Primary election that a problem of some voters being listed in the wrong district had not been corrected since it was discovered in late April. The officials say they don't know how many voters were affected. Merrill and Judge Hassell sent out a joint statement on the problem, which says it was up to boards of registrars in each county to assign voters to the correct districts after the Legislature approved new districts last year. They state the Etowah County Board of Registrars received the data and maps on the new districts in November of last year. In the State House District 28 race, former legislator Mack Butler got just over two hundred more votes than the incumbent Gil Isbell. In District 29, Republican Mark Gidley received eighty two more votes than his opponent Jamie Grant in that open seat race.