Amount wrong on Colfax ballot

More than 2,000 ballots mailed to Whitman County residents last week will now be considered void by the county auditor.

The 2,451 voters in the Colfax School District will be reissued a ballot this week because the original ballot mailed Jan. 22 included an error.

The Colfax School District levy in the original ballot stated that should the levy pass, $1,300,000 would be collected from taxable properties in 2012. The ballot should have read $1,350,000 would be collected in 2012.

“You’ve got to vote again,” Auditor Eunice Coker said, “(or) your vote will not be counted.”

The discrepancy was due to election staff error, Coker said, and was missed during the proofing process. She said all voters who received a ballot with the Colfax School District levy on it must vote again. Because there is an error on the original ballot, no votes for or against the levy will be considered on the first ballot.