Hard ticket: Chase the Ace printer to 'correct and improve' process

In the wake of a ticket snafu that disrupted a potential million-dollar Chase the Ace jackpot in the GouldsWednesday, the company responsible for printing the tickets says it's working to resolve the issue.

But a community group that runs another printing service in St. John's warns that mistakes are hard to avoid when so many tickets are being printed quickly.

• Goulds Chase the Ace postponed due to duplicate tickets, thousands turned away

In a statement issued Thursday afternoon, Tony Burke, owner of the Print Shop, said his company is "disappointed at the inconvenience that has resulted from this fundraising event."

Burke's company prints the tickets for Chase the Ace, which draws thousands to the Gouldsneighbourhood of St. John's each week. The event is organized bySt. Kevin's Parish.

Wednesday night's draw was cancelled after several tickets containing duplicate numbers were discovered. Service NL, the government department that regulates lotteries in the province, has begun an investigation.

"We are working with Service NL to confirm that all conditions of the lottery licence are being met, and stand by our quality procedures. Being part of this event is a privilege and we will correct and improve any issues that are found." Burke said in the statement.

Hard to control

Mistakes are hard to control when so many tickets are being printed in a short time, according to Tom Badcock, who works at the HUB, a community group in St. John's that has a printing service.

"You simply can't print a million tickets and be assured in that period of time that there won't be duplicates," Badcock said Thursday.

"As soon as you use a computer or some kind of mechanical means, then you're gonna get repeats."

Badcocksaid that's why the HUB and other printers check the numbers on every single ticket. He admits that would be difficult for volunteers at St. Kevin's.

As for how to restore confidence in the charity event, Badcock knows what he would do.

"I'd first of all have to look at every single stub, every ticket that was sold," he told the CBC's Here & Now.

"See if there's any duplicates, identify the numbers, put it out there that we've got the duplicate numbers, get the people to come in who have those numbers, give them new tickets or cash, and then once you are sure that there's no duplicates, make a draw."

Badcock cautioned though, that it could still be easy for someone to make a fake ticket.

"You gotta be able to match the perforations,that's the key. You gotta match the perforations. Otherwise, anybody can copy this ticket."

'We know how complex it is'

The Atlantic Lottery Corporation, which has been running games of chance for decades, has no advice for the volunteers in theGoulds but the ALC president hopes it ends well.

"We've been running a lottery for 40 years. We know how complex it is. What they're trying to do is a massive undertaking," said Brent Scrimshaw.

Scrimshaw said the fairness and integrity of a lottery is essential. The ALC has a host of security features, including unique numbers and barcodes, signed tickets and external auditors.

But he acknowledged the local groups that run Chase the Ace do not have the same resources.

"We wish them well. These folks are volunteers. They're working hard for their hometowns. I hope this all comes to a good conclusion."