Ballot machine in Nahant breaks

NAHANT – It could be a long night for candidates and election officials in Nahant if the ballot machines in town aren’t repaired soon.
Polls in town opened at 7 a.m. on Tuesday for the special election and less than an hour later the electronic ballot reading machine broke, according to Town Clerk Peggy Barile.
Candidates Jennifer McCarthy and Lainey Titus are vying for a seat on the Board of Selectmen in the special election.
Barile said a repairman has been called and she hopes the electronic ballot reading machine would be repaired shortly.
Barile said once the machine is repaired, individuals coming in to vote will be able to feed their ballots directly into the machine. But all ballots that were cast when the machine was not working will have to be read by hand.
?The votes that are cast when the machine is down are put in an auxiliary bin,” Barile said. “The votes in the auxiliary bin have to be counted by hand. I’m assembling a team of people to come in and help count the ballots after the polls close.”
The polls close at 8 p.m. and Barile said election results may not be available until well after 10 p.m.
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