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Published Thursday May 11, 2000 Title: Glitches Frustrate Election Official BY TARA DEERING OMAHA WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER Technical glitches delayed the reporting of election results Tuesday night, Douglas County Election Commissioner Scott Lautenbaugh said.

"I don't think that this year was better than years gone by, and it was just a disappointment to me," Lautenbaugh said. "I'm frustrated."

The Douglas County office filed updated results on the Internet every hour instead of every half-hour, as done in past elections. Unofficial final results were posted about 11:50 p.m. Tuesday. Lautenbaugh said he had hoped to complete the work by 11 p.m.

In addition, he said, the office had problems loading results onto the Internet because of the number of people who were logging onto the Web site.

"The counting went perfectly," he said. "The reporting is where I thought we could have done better."

He said the layout of the office also might have contributed to the delays. The vote-counting machines are on one side of the office, while the computers that compile the results are on the other side, requiring workers to walk back and forth to transmit the data.

Lautenbaugh said it was the first time the commission had handled a major countywide election since moving from its downtown office to a new building at 115th and Burke Streets. He said he hopes to resolve the problems in time for the general election in November.

Statewide, the election went relatively smoothly, said Neal Erickson, assistant secretary of state.

Brown County results were not included in the state results because of technical problems in the Secretary of State's Office, Erickson said. In addition, Sioux and Adams Counties didn't report their unofficial final results until 12:30 a.m. Wednesday.

In Sarpy County, Election Commissioner Ed Gilbert said his office posted updated election results on the Internet about every 20 minutes. The final results were distributed to the state by 9:30 p.m., he said.

) Copyright 2000 Omaha World-Herald Company. http://www.omaha.com/Omaha/OWH/StoryViewer/1,3153,337175,00.html

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-- (Dee360Degree@aol.com), May 11, 2000