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Just five weeks before the 2020 General Election, New Yorkers absentee ballots have arrived to many with mislabeled return envelopes. The envelopes have discrepancies between the voter name and address on the ballot versus the return envelope which would render the ballot invalid.
The inaccurate envelopes stemmed from one batch in Brooklyn, however, officials do not have information on who exactly received the misprinted envelopes.
Examples of misprinted envelopes poured onto Twitter this week as people realized they were inaccurate.
I received someone else's return envelope in my #AbsenteeBallot. I just got off the phone with an operator at .@BOENYC and they said this has happened to a lot of people. Double check your ballots. .@NYCMayor .@NYGovCuomo @Gothamist @nytimes @NY1 @NYDailyNews @nypost pic.twitter.com/88Qlwi9VBK
— rama (@ramagu4ever) September 28, 2020
We got our ballots today--great. Then I opened them. In the one addressed to me: a ballot & envelope bearing the name of another woman in another neighborhood. In the envelope addressed to my husband: a ballot and envelope bearing MY name & address. https://t.co/Mk3WdBOxiF
— Rebecca Traister (@rtraister) September 29, 2020
My mail-in ballot also has someone else's return envelope. This is gonna be a real huge problem, huh. https://t.co/ygx9XgeEE7 pic.twitter.com/JsGxb6yzP5
— Barry Petchesky (@barry) September 28, 2020
Called the BOE, they're sending a replacement ballot, but, uh, had me in their system with the wrong birthdate. (It's always been fine before!)
I'm absolutely going to vote in person now.
— Barry Petchesky (@barry) September 28, 2020
Amazing, I received my absentee ballot today and @BOENYC has given me someone else's privacy envelope with their barcode and everything. This election is gonna be a shit show. pic.twitter.com/VNj9yKtaNK
— Gary He (@garyhe) September 29, 2020
Me too! On the inner ballot envelope. I'm assuming it's a district supervisor or something? It would be great to get some clarity on this @NYCVotes pic.twitter.com/B2dxYuULBF
— Nadia Berenstein, PhD (@thebirdisgone) September 28, 2020
Validity is an added concern this election cycle as the pandemic has brought a drastic increase in the number of people voting via absentee.
New York's Board of Elections (BOE) said the mishap was "an outside vendor error." According to Gothamist and WNYC, a private company was contracted to print and mail ballots.
Originally voters were told to contact the Board of Elections for a corrected return envelope. However, on Tuesday the BOE's executive director Mike Ryan announced at a public board meeting that all "potentially affected" voters would receive new ballot packets "to make certain absolutely no disenfranchisement occurs."
NY voters were calling for action on the matter.
Our Secretary of State has an obligation to NYS residents to uphold the sanctity of our election process. If there were any appearance of improprieties against Mr. Biden, I bet you'd see investigations immediately, by the NYS SOS, NYSAG et al.
— TheParentAdvocate (@advocate_parent) September 29, 2020
This BOE mistake is inexcusable. But it's the inevitable result of a structure based on political patronage, designed for politicians, not voters.
The BOE's incompetence has always been dangerous. Who can say how many NYers have been disenfranchised by avoidable mistakes. 1/
— Jabari Brisport🌹 (@JabariBrisport) September 29, 2020
Early voting goes from Oct. 24 to Nov. 1. You can find your early voting site at https://t.co/bCh6w4RJXk.
We have to vote. And then we have to fight to make sure everyone can vote and vote easily. /4
— Jabari Brisport🌹 (@JabariBrisport) September 29, 2020
Agencies also took to social media to help information reach potentially affected voters.
pic.twitter.com/GKqP07hgFh
— NYCBoardOfElections (@BOENYC) September 29, 2020
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
If you received an absentee ballot with errors on it, contact @boenyc at Apply4Absentee@boe.nyc or call 1-866-VOTE-NYC.https://t.co/9lhA2ugzdM
— NYC Votes (@NYCVotes) September 28, 2020
Many areas have early in person voting options to help reduce the crowd sizes on Election Day. Check with your local officials for more information.
Absentee ballots can still be a great way to cast your ballot safely, however, double check to assure your information is correct. Your vote is important, especially this election season.