Detroit elections officials lost track of ballots in nine precincts -- or almost 3,000 votes -- in Tuesday\'s election, and did not count them until two days after polls closed. State Elections Director Chris Thomas ordered city officials late Friday to keep their hands off voting records until he meets with them today. Detroit Elections Department Director Gloria Williams insisted Friday it was completely normal for poll workers to temporarily lose track of a few precinct results -- stored in computerized memory packs -- in a busy election, an assessment shared by Sean T. Smith, a computer consultant who oversaw the tabulation of the votes on hundreds of packs. Williams and Smith said there was no way anyone could tamper with the missing packs. Throughout the election night process, the memory packs holding all of the city votes are often in the hands of part-time or temporary workers, including some who are hired for election night alone, said Smith. The workers are told \"over and over\" that the memory packs are one of the most vital parts of counting the vote, Smith said. \"The challenge is always getting competent poll workers,\" said Smith, a 30-year-old sophomore at Wayne State University who has helped coordinate the city\'s election night computer networks since 2000. Memory packs usually go missing in city elections, Williams said. \"It was Thursday when we found them all,\" she said. \"That\'s normal. Very normal.\"