Vote By Mail Chaos: New York City Sends Wrong Name Absentee Return Envelopes to Voters Across Brooklyn-Mistake Could Void Thousands of Votes
The New York City Board of Elections is blaming a vendor for an egregious error on absentee ballots mailed to voters in Brooklyn that could cause their votes to be thrown out–even if they follow the rules to the letter. The reason is that the absentee ballots were sent out with return envelopes that were mismatched and bear the names and addresses of other voters so that if the person signs the envelope with their own name it won’t be counted as the signature would not match the name on the mistakenly sent return envelope.
Incorrect return envelope image via Nathan McDermott/Twitter
New York City absentee ballots were already causing problems with a typo making recipients mistakenly believe they had been sent a military ballot.
Typically, there is a slash between the words “Absentee / Military” like on the primary ballots from this June. The slash was not included this time. Though confusing, these ballots are still valid. pic.twitter.com/JxZ4x5AaPj
— NYC Votes (@NYCVotes) September 28, 2020
Gothamist reports the error is being reported across the borough (excerpt):
The New York City Board of Elections has mailed out nearly half a million absentee ballots ahead of Election Day this November, as many New Yorkers are opting to vote by mail during the pandemic. Yet some voters are already reporting problems with their ballots that could invalidate someone’s vote if they aren’t caught in time.
Multiple voters in Brooklyn told Gothamist / WNYC that they have received a mislabeled “official absentee ballot envelope.” Normally, the voter inserts their completed ballot into the envelope and signs the outside. But in these cases, their ballot envelopes bear the wrong name and address. If a person signs their own name to this faulty ballot envelope, the ballot would be voided.
So far, voters in Park Slope, Prospect Heights, Carroll Gardens, Crown Heights, Clinton Hill, Bushwick, Flatbush, Brooklyn Heights, and Sunset Park have already reported the issue. More than 140,000 absentee ballots have gone out across the borough…
The Board of Elections posted they are aware of the snafu:
pic.twitter.com/G2j7xbEYgn
— NYCBoardOfElections (@BOENYC) September 29, 2020
The BOE blamed a vendor, “The was error made by the vendor, Phoenix Graphics, who has been contracted to print and mail the ballots for voters in Brooklyn and Queens. They have assured us that voters who received erroneous envelopes will receive new ones.”
The was error made by the vendor, Phoenix Graphics, who has been contracted to print and mail the ballots for voters in Brooklyn and Queens. They have assured us that voters who received erroneous
Source: The Gateway Pundit
