Mismarked absentee ballots in NYC lead to 'mass confusion,' official says
'It’s absolutely outrageous that when everyone is watching them, they still screw up the most basic thing'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}New York City voters who planned to vote by mail in November's election are worried their votes will be invalid after residents in two boroughs have complained that their absentee ballots are mismarked.
Nearly 100,000 Brooklyn voters -- 99,477 -- received ballots bearing someone else's name and address on the accompanying return envelope, while residents of both Brooklyn and Queens received ballots incorrectly marked as military ballots, the New York City Board of Elections said Tuesday.
Voters will be automatically sent new ballots and a replacement package that includes an explanation of the error.
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"There’s just mass confusion about these ballots and what people are supposed to do with them," City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer told the New York Post in reference to the military ballots.
Those ballots read "Official Absentee Military Ballot," but a Board of Elections spokesperson confirmed to the Post that it was supposed to say "Absentee--Military" but the dash was mistakenly omitted.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Van Bramer criticized the board for causing panic.
"This apparent typo just has everyone confused and believing these are invalid ballots,” Van Bramer said. “It’s absolutely outrageous that when everyone is watching them, they still screw up the most basic thing, which is printing the ballot correctly."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A separate problem that Brooklyn voters noticed appears to be far more serious. Residents in several neighborhoods reported receiving absentee ballots bearing the wrong name and address on the accompanying return envelope meant for returning the completed ballot, according to Gothamist.
If a voter's signature on their ballot does not match the name on the envelope, their vote could be deemed invalid.
New York City Board of Elections Executive Director Michael Ryan told Fox News that the printing errors were made by third-party vendor Phoenix Graphics, which is based in Rochester.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"We are determining how many voters have been affected but we can assure that the vendor will addresses this problem in future mailings, and make sure people who received erroneous envelopes receive new ones," Ryan said in a statement through a spokesperson. "We will ensure on behalf of the voters in Brooklyn that the proper ballots and ballot envelopes are in the hands of the voters in advance of Election Day so they can vote."
Fox News reached out to Phoenix Graphics for comment but they have not responded.
The Board of Elections said the vendor will foot the cost of mailing out new ballots.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Individuals with mistaken ballots will still be able to vote in the Nov. 3 election.
"There are always problems with every human system, but the good news is that there's ample time to fix them and voters have plenty of options," said Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause New York, a watchdog group. "The most important thing is to make a plan to vote now, and then have a back-up plan in case you need it."
The Board of Elections tweeted Sunday evening that voters who received the wrong envelope should contact them via direct message, email or phone.
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Opponents of large-scale mail-in voting have expressed a number of concerns, including problems some states could face from the lack of pre-existing infrastructure for handling a system of voting that could be drastically different from years past.
Fox News' Megan Henney contributed to this report