Chicago election board blames coding error for ballot shortages amid high turnout

The Chicago Board of Elections says a coding error caused ballot shortages and long lines at some polling places during Tuesday's midterm election, as officials continue counting votes and investigating the problem.In a statement Wednesday, election officials said nearly 660,000 Chicago voters have cast ballots so far, with some precinct results and mail-in ballots still outstanding.Coding error blamed for ballot shortagesThe Chicago Board of Elections said its investigation determined that a coding error in the computerized system used to calculate ballot quantities caused some precincts to receive incorrect amounts of certain ballot styles.The issue affected some of Chicago's 491 "split precincts," which require multiple ballot styles because they include voters from different election districts. Officials said every precinct received the correct total number of ballots, but some received too many of one ballot style and too few of another.Once the issue was discovered, election offi