Updated Fri. Oct. 10 2008 5:12 PM ET

The Associated Press

TROY, N.Y. -- Who is running for president?

In an upstate New York county, hundreds of voters have been sent absentee ballots in which they could vote for "Barack Osama."

The absentee ballots sent to voters in Rensselaer County identified the two presidential candidates as "Barack Osama" and "John McCain."

In the United States, the best-known individual named Osama is Osama bin Laden, leader of the al Qaida terrorist group behind the 2001 attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center in New York City.

The typographical terror error was first reported by the Times Union of Albany.

The elections office faxed a statement in which the two commissioners, Democrat Edward McDonough and Republican Larry Bugbee, said they regret the error but never acknowledge what the error was.

"It's human error, it's very unfortunate, it's an embarrassment to our office, obviously," McDonough said in a later phone interview. "We wish we could turn back the clock, but we can't."

When they discovered the mistake, officials shredded the remaining "Osama" ballots and mailed correct versions to the roughly 300 people who had already received them. McDonough said the "Osama" mistake was made in only one of the 13 ballot versions mailed throughout the county, located east of the state capital of Albany.

Voters who received both versions will be allowed to send in either one and have it counted, McDonough said.

Obama spokesman Blake Zeff said the campaign is "glad officials are working to correct this error and we assume it won't happen again."

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20081010/barack_ballots_081010/20081010?hub=TopStories&s_name=

yikes thats frustrating, I get frustrated when people spell my name with an I - imagine Obama

people spell my name wrong all the time
for some reason they want to add an "a" to the end of it

I wonder if this was a mistake or done intentionally????

gladly those mistakes does not bring to mind a terrorist nor a person of bad standings...

I would be livid, but truthfully mistakes happen and they did own up to it.

Nothing would surprise me in this election.

it's true mistakes do happen....

but I have heard people say his name this way (Osama) every since he got into the presidential race.......

agree, very demeaning

I posted this subject abit ago titled Look at your keyboard I think.