Tennessee election officials iron out touch screen issues with unlikely tool: Coffee stirrers

(NASHVILLE, Tenn.) — An unexpected challenge in Tennessee’s first week of voting involved touchscreens in the state’s two largest counties resulted in no recorded irregularities and an unlikely fix: coffee stirrers that allow voters to choose with precision their preferred candidate, local officials told ABC News.

The stirrers, which since 2020 have been doled out to voters to use as styluses, were ditched for environmental reasons – then readopted after the first days of early voting led some Tennesseans to accidentally select their undesired candidate because of small boxes next to the candidates’ names.

Some voters in Davidson and Shelby County, home to Nashville and Memphis, respectively, tried to pinprick that small box with their thumb or pointer finger, but – it being so near to the name of an opponent on a line above – they hit another candidate’s name.

The county has not experienced “any issues” in the last few days since poll workers reinstituted the stirrers and reminded voters they should check they’ve chosen their preferred candidate before printing their ballot – and a second time before scanning and submitting it, Davidson County Administrator of Elections Jeff Roberts told ABC News.