Referendum missing from some ballots in Winnetka

As the final category on local ballots, referenda can be hard to find — even more so if it’s not there.

For about three hours on Election Day, voters at a Winnetka polling site received an incomplete ballot, according to a report filed with the Cook County Clerk’s Office.

Volunteer poll workers at Precinct 16 in Winnetka — New Trier High School, 385 Winnetka Ave. — called in the mistake around 8:58 a.m., reporting that they provided an uncertain number of voters with ballots from another site that did not include the Winnetka Public Schools referendum.

“Our numbers will be off,” precinct workers told the clerk’s office, according to the report.

The referendum is one of few local measures on Winnetka ballots and asks voters to sign off on District 36 selling obligation bonds for $56 million to fund districtwide safety, security and modernization renovations.

Sally Armbruster — a co-chairperson of referendum-supporting Citizens Supporting Safe and Healthy Winnetka Public Schools — said a Winnetka voter contacted the group Tuesday morning to communicate the situation. Armbruster said she contacted the polling site and its workers told her they were now using the correct ballots.

Poll workers at the site confirmed the error but could not say how many people may have received the incorrect ballots.

In the Gubernatorial General Election in 2016, the site saw 953 voters while open from 6 a.m.-7 p.m. In 2014, that number was 752.

A representative in the county clerk’s office said voters who received the wrong ballots and still voted are out of luck and would not be allowed to vote again, because their ballots have been processed.

District 36 administrators did not immediately return a message from The Record.

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