Miami County’s Board of Elections was scrambling to contact voters Monday after ballot vendor Dayton Legal Blank told the board that 177 absentee ballots requested by residents had never been processed.

Board of Elections Chairman Roger Luring said the board learned of the problem Monday afternoon. The BOE held an emergency meeting at 5 p.m. Monday. Because it was too late to mail the ballots, the board called in extra help and began calling the affected voters to explain their options.

If those voters are able to go to their regular polling location on Tuesday, they will be allowed to vote, but it will be by provisional ballot, since state records will show them as having already received a mailed ballot. Election officials were trying to alert poll workers of the issue Monday afternoon.

Provisional ballots are not counted until 10 days after Election Day, but as long as they are properly cast, they are included in official results.

Miami County BOE member Jose Lopez said the board will go out of its way to help any affected voters who say they can’t go to the polls Tuesday. In those cases, a two-person BOE team of one Republican and one Democrat will bring a ballot to the voter so they can vote.

Dayton Legal Blank President David Keeler said this error was tied to another problem discovered last week, in which 209 voters got two ballot mailings. Keeler said when the voter file with 177 residents was supposed to be processed, the older file with 209 residents was accidentally run a second time.

Dayton Legal Blank and Miami County have had other problems with absentee ballots, as the original mailing of ballots was delayed, and DLB had another set of 35 ballots that was processed but not mailed. Those voters were contacted last week.

Asked if there was the possibility of other errors, Keeler said DLB “checked very carefully and found no other errors.”

The Miami County Board of Elections can be reached at (937) 440-3900.