- There are 144 voter cartridges collecting voter info in Vermilion Parish; 17 of those "malfunctioned" on Saturday, Oct. 14
- Parish Clerk Diane Meaux Broussard has served in Vermilion for the last 20 years; she says this is the first time this has ever happened in the Parish.
- Broussard called on the Secretary of State, who sent two additional representatives to help tally the votes
After polls closed in Vermilion Parish on Saturday, Oct. 15, Vermilion Parish Clerk Diane Meaux Broussard encountered some technical difficulties, that turned tallying the votes into quite the challenge.
"People were so anxious for this election,” said Broussard, “you know we had some big things going on, and just wish it would've been different."
Broussard has been the Parish Clerk for the last 20 years. But she says this election took her by surprise.
"It never happened in Vermilion before."
After commissioners returned the electronic voter cartridges, she noticed an issue.
"It was called to my attention that 17 of the 144 cartridges weren't being read. We quickly realized that we were going back to the old way of doing things, and that they would have to input it by hand."
Broussard decided to call the Secretary of State for backup.
"My wonderful staff, and the great two representatives from Secretary of State started to input everything. It took about 4 hours."
The veteran clerk says this cartridge issue is not unheard of.
"Secretary's aware of this because they've given us these red bags, and when these happen, you need to put your cartridges in there and return it to Secretary of State so they can replace them.
Broussard hopes this incident will result in new, updated equipment.
"I think my machines are 35 years old. So yeah, it's time for new machines."
Broussard says new cartridges will be expected to be here by the November 18 Runoff Election.
