Nashville, Tennessee: Stir Sticks Return to Polling Places After Touchscreen Complaints in Early Voting

Nashville election officials have brought back a low-tech tool for a touchscreen problem. Davidson County announced on Oct. 22 that stir sticks are back at polling places for early voting, after voters reported that the voting machines highlighted a different candidate from the one they meant to pick.

The Tennessean reported on Oct. 23 that voters took to social media during the first week of early voting to describe machines that did not display their intended selections. Among them was Stella Parton, sister of Dolly Parton. Early voting in Tennessee opened on Oct. 14, and hundreds of thousands of Tennesseans have cast ballots for governor, the U.S. Congress, the Tennessee General Assembly and three proposed constitutional amendments.

What voters reported, and why a stick helps

Davidson County Deputy Administrator of Elections Lisa Pierce told The Tennessean that some voters said they meant to select a Democratic candidate, but the Republican candidate listed in the box above was highlighted on the screen instead. Pierce said those voters changed their selection and then printed their ballots. The problem, she explained, is geometry. A finger taps at an angle and can land on the box above the intended name. A stir stick is narrower than a finger, so the voter taps straight down on one name, with less chance of touching the box next to it.

ABC News reported the same complaints in Shelby County, home to Memphis, the state's other large county in this account. Voters there and in Davidson County tried to tap the small box beside a candidate's name with a thumb or finger, and hit the name on the line above instead. The sticks are not new. Davidson County handed them out from 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, and in later elections. The county stopped providing them after voters asked for them to be discontinued, Pierce said, and ABC News reported they were dropped for environmental reasons before being brought back this month.

Officials say the printed ballot is the record to check

Tennessee Coordinator of Elections Mark Goins told The Tennessean that the state's voting systems are built with safeguards so ballots are recorded the way the voter intends. He listed three chances to check a ballot before it is cast. The selection screen shows each choice as it is made. A review screen then shows a summary of every selection. Last, the printed paper ballot or paper record shows the choices again, and voters should read it before the ballot goes in.

Davidson County Administrator of Elections Jeff Roberts told ABC News the county has had no issues in the last few days since poll workers brought back the stirrers and reminded voters to check their choices before printing, and again before scanning and submitting the ballot. Election officials say any voter who sees a wrong selection on screen should stop and call a poll worker or the county election commission before casting the ballot, while the selection can still be corrected. Early voting continues in Davidson County and across Tennessee ahead of the Nov. 3 general election. This story will be updated in place if the county or the state reports further machine complaints or changes the guidance to voters.