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Baltimore Primary Dubbed "Absolute Disaster" By Critics

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- "An absolute disaster." That's what critics call the staggering number of irregularities in the city's primary election. Now city leaders are demanding answers about how things went so wrong.

Meghan McCorkell has more on calls for a new investigation.

Members of the city council say they'll launch an investigation to ensure this never happens again.

Months after a primary election mired with problems, some still question its validity. Now city leaders want answers about what went wrong.

"It's not good enough to say we did the best we could. Things happen. No; not that many things happen," said Baltimore City Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke.

Clarke is calling on election officials to appear in front of the council with a detailed plan to ensure this doesn't happen in November. She says she is concerned the discrepancies could convince some not to return to the polls.

"This is not how elections are conducted. This is not typical and it will not be repeated," Clarke said.

A review from the state Board of Elections found about 1,700 primary ballots were mishandled. Other complaints include late openings, improper training of election judges, voters that were turned away or mishandled and data files that went missing for a day.

"You've got to have confidence in the one vote for one person and it gets counted properly," said City Councilman Robert Curran.

A citizen watchdog group has already filed a federal complaint calling for a new primary election.

"We want some assurances that will restore public confidence in the election and so far, everyone is sorry and nobody wants to do anything about it," said attorney J. Wyndal Gordon.

City leaders say they just want to make sure this never happens again so voters can go to the polls with confidence.

The city council hearing is expected to be held in late July or early August.

The general election is set to take place November 8.

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