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Thursday, October 29, 2026Oct 29

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Computer problems delay Polk County vote count

photo Fran Green, Bradley County Elections Director, center, works with other members of the election commission to prepare for upcoming races while at the Bradley County Election Commission in Cleveland, Tenn., in this file photo.
Arkansas-Wofford Live Blog

A computer malfunction left Polk County, Tenn., residents waiting until almost Wednesday for their Super Tuesday election results.

Computers at the county election commission wouldn’t read memory cards from the voting machines, officials said, and it wasn’t until about midnight that the problem was solved.

“Such an itty-bitty thing caused such a big problem,” said Roger Baird, president of Harp Enterprises, which created the vote-tabulating software used by Polk.

“You know how computers are these days. Things like this happen, and you’re just left scratching your head,” he said.

A Harp Enterprises technician stationed in Loudon County, Tenn., drove to Polk County with the parts needed to fix the problem, Baird said.