ABILENE - A Scurry County election error reversed the outcomes in two commissioner races.
A defective computer chip in the county's optical scanner misread ballots Tuesday night and incorrectly tallied a landslide victory for Republicans. Democrats actually won by wide margins.
The problem was discovered when poll workers became suspicious of the margins of the vote, Scurry County Clerk Joan Bunch said.
A new computer chip was flown to Snyder from Dallas, she said. By Wednesday morning, the votes had been counted twice by hand and once again by scanner with the replacement chip.
Republican Robbie Floyd, 69, who lost to Democrat Jerry House, seemed agape even hours after learning of his defeat Wednesday.
"It was hard to believe that that type of mistake had happened," he said.
Incumbent Democrat Chloanne Lindsey said she had conceded the election to Republican Keith Hackfeld when she received a phone call at 3:45 a.m. notifying her of the discrepancy. Later Wednesday morning, he called to congratulate her.
"I felt bad for my opponent," Lindsey said. "I knew how it felt to lose."
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/metropolitan/1652544