JACKSON, Mississippi (PNN) - August 28, 2019 - Shocking video that shows an electronic voting machine malfunction during Mississippi's runoff election has gone viral on the Internet, sparking concern from citizens.
The clip was shared to Facebook on Tuesday by Oxford resident Sally Kate Walker, and shows a male voter trying to cast his ballot by selecting from two available options on a touch screen.
The man touches a box marked “Bill Waller Jr.” - the candidate for whom he is voting to be the state's next Republican governor.
However, once he selects his option, the machine inadvertently marks a box labeled “Tate Reeves” - the other candidate in the running to be Mississippi governor.
“Nope,” the voter says, as he again tries to touch the “Bill Waller Jr.” box.
The machine malfunctions for a second time, and again selects Tate Reeves as the man's vote of choice.
“How is this happening?” a woman can be heard saying in the background.
The man continues to try to vote for Bill Waller Jr. by selecting the appropriately marked box on the touch screen.
He presses his preferred option 14 times, but each time the electronic machine still selects Tate Reeves.
“It is not letting me vote for who I want to vote for!” the frustrated man exclaims.
“Ummmm…. seems legit, Mississippi,” Walker wrote beneath the video which she posted on Facebook.
“The exact same thing happened to me in Buster Brown in Greenville, Mississippi this morning! Thought it was just a glitch on my machine but obviously not,” another voter commented beneath the clip.
It appears voters are already skeptical about electronic machines, with another adding, “I don't trust anything but paper ballots.”
“No shocker there. This exact issue was happening back in 2016. Not surprised at all,” a third person wrote.
According to the Clarion-Ledger, Waller's campaign received reports of malfunctioning touch-screen machines in seven counties.
Late on Tuesday, he conceded to Tate Reeves, who garnered 56% of the vote to Waller's 44%.
Reeves will now face off against Democrat Jim Hood in the general election in November.