According to this story, Galveston County is reprinting 5,000 ballots because they erroneously failed to give an independent candidate for County Judge any partisan label on the ballot. The faulty ballots list the independent candidate but give him no label whatsoever. Thanks to Electionline for the link.
Mistakes happen, but this was one that could have been avoided.
Still, with Independent candidate Bill Young insisting that the word “Independent” or the abbreviation “IND” be added next to his name, this could backfire on him.
I would not be surprised if his opponent Mark Henry, the GOP nominee and incumbent, doesn’t make an issue out of this. He could claim that Mr. Young’s demand of having the Independent label added to the ballot is costing the taxpayers $X thousands of dollars. And a lot of voters could argue, “his name is already listed on the ballot, so why is he making the county go to the expense of reprinting the ballots?”
It would be one thing if the ballot had left off Mr. Young’s name entirely, but at least his name is/was still on the ballot.
As a Independent, I like to see Independent candidates listed on he ballot. But with the expense caused by this error, it could backfire on Mr. Young. I trust not. Will be interesting to see how this election turns out.