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MVA Takes Steps to Prevent Voter Registration Error

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ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - Maryland's Motor Vehicle administrator has outlined steps the agency is taking to prevent the kind of computer programing error that caused thousands of voters to use provisional ballots in last month's primary.

Christine Nizer appeared before a joint panel of Maryland lawmakers Thursday and apologized for the error.

She says the error has been fixed.

Nizer says the MVA will conduct weekly audits to make sure all voter registrations through the MVA will be checked to make sure they are transmitted correctly to the state elections board.

While the MVA and the board estimated as many as 83,493 voters were affected, it later found 71,981 were potentially impacted. Out of 20,563 provisional ballots cast in last month's primary, the MVA says 3,538 were affected by the computer error.

Don Rush is the News Director at Delmarva Public Media. An award-winning journalist, Don reports major local issues of the day, from sea level rise, to urban development, to the changing demographics of Delmarva.