As the presidential election draws closer and ballots are being sent out, New York mailed out as many as 100,000 voter ballots that have in some way been deemed defective. An absentee ballot is a ballot for someone to vote by mail because they’re unable to go vote in person. In New York, as many as 100,000 people have received misprinted mail-in ballots.
The New York Post reported that people had received ballot mailing envelopes with the wrong name and address. Some even received ballots with neighbors’ information who lived two blocks away. “It’s a major problem. This is not stoking confidence in the election system,” said Brooklyn Heights resident Jiong Wang, who received a return envelope for his ballot with the name and address of a voter who lives a half-mile away.
The New York Times reports that the results of the June Primaries weren’t announced until August due to “…technical issues like missing postmarks, missing signatures or improperly sealed envelopes.” This led to thousands of ballots being thrown out.
However, new ballots have been sent out and are expected to arrive before Nov 3. The people who have been impacted by the incorrect ballots will receive a voting kit in the weeks ahead. The votes that have already been submitted with the defective ballots will be invalidated by the second ballot that voters were sent. Election Commissioner Frederic M. Umane stated that in order to differentiate the two ballots, “The second ballots will be distinguished by a red mark that will be picked up by the board’s ballot-processing machines.”
Governor Cuomo opposed the sending of a second ballot, suggesting that they should be sent the correct mail-in envelope rather than an entirely new ballot altogether, according to The New York Post. However, the Board of Elections is a separate entity to that of the governor’s office.
“Even so, his aides suggested to the board that the vendor should send affected voters only new inner envelopes known as oath envelopes–which contained the actual printing errors–but not new ballots.” This led to speculation that Governor Cuomo may be attempting to disenfranchise voters.
Likewise, Brooklyn wasn’t the only county who faced this challenge, 781 voters in Nassau County, also in New York, have received faulty ballots in the mail.
Long Island’s News 12 found that the vendor was the link between the incorrect voter ballots in Brooklyn and Nassau County. NBC New York reported that the vendor was Phoenix Graphics, and they refused to comment. “The Rochester-based printing company, which was founded in 1985 and calls itself the state’s largest supplier of ballot materials, is urging those who call its offices about absentee ballot issues to contact their local board of election.”
President Trump used this as fuel for his argument on voter fraud. He tweeted on September 30, “‘Wow! 100,000 Mail In Ballots in New York City a total MESS. Mayor and Governor have no idea what to do. Big Fraud, Unfixable! Cancel Ballots and go out and VOTE, just like in past decades, when there were no problems!’”
Not only has this propagated Trump’s theory of voter fraud, but it also has forced people to go out during the pandemic instead of mailing in their ballots. “At this point I’m like, do I just chuck the absentee ballots and try to vote early in person?” said Caty Bennett Gray, a resident of Williamsburg. “But that’s not ideal, because I have a 3-week-old.”
Voting by mail is projected to be at an all time high, due to the pandemic. It’s yet to be seen whether this will be a repeat occurrence in other states, as well.
