Voter uses Fenty stamp on voting-machine screen

Supporters of a write-in campaign for Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D), aiming to make the process as simple as possible, have made ink stamps bearing Fenty's name, which voters can take into the polls to stamp their ballots.

But it wasn't so simple for one Fenty supporter Tuesday afternoon. That voter, at Precinct 51 at Lafayette Elementary School in the Chevy Chase neighborhood, appears to have used the stamp on the screen of an electronic machine, election officials said.

The stamps, it apparently does not go without saying, are meant to be used on paper ballots only.

Alysoun McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics, said that no permanent damage was done to the machine, but poll workers "needed to know how they were supposed to clean the screen."

The stamps have the blessing of elections officials, and they have been used in past write-in campaigns, including for Mayor Anthony A. Williams's successful effort in the 2002 primaries.

