As many as 100,000 Brooklyn voters have reportedly received absentee ballots with different names on the outer and inner envelopes, according to the city’s Board of Elections (BOE).
The reported miscue comes at a time when Republicans are already making claims of voter fraud in what is already a delicate presidential election year where the COVID pandemic is causing millions of more mail-in ballots nationwide.
At the New York City Board of Elections weekly virtual commissioner’s meeting on Tuesday, September 29, BOE Director Michael Ryan attempted to quickly disseminate information on what happened.
More than 15 minutes into the scheduled start time the meeting was opened to the public to view and listen in.
“We did receive some complaints from voters who received a proper ballot but improper oath envelope,” confirmed Ryan.
Ryan said that from their investigation it was Phoenix Graphics, a vendor that was charged with printing and mailing the ballots, that was responsible for the error. “Our understanding up to this point is that it is isolated to one borough, and that would be the borough of Brooklyn, and one print run,” said Ryan.
Ryan said the error has been caught and corrected moving forward, but to make certain no “disenfranchisement” occurs, the BOE has demanded the vendor pay for and redistribute the ballots.
Ryan said there isn’t data available to tell exactly who was affected by the misprints, and they want to carefully redistribute ballots to anyone “potentially” affected.
“The BOE will do everything it needs to do administratively, both in communication with the voters on the upfront, remailing aspect and on the backend to ensure that all of the ballots that are received are appropriately processed and the votes that are tallied are properly credited to the voters,” said Ryan.
Reaction to the BOE error among Brooklyn electeds was swift and highly critical.
“Brooklyn voters wishing to safely participate in our democratic process are once again being disenfranchised by systemic errors caused by third party participants in the electoral process. I am outraged that Brooklynites are receiving erroneous ballots impeding their ability to effectively vote by mail,” said Assemblymember and Majority County Party Chair Rodneyse Bichotte (D-Flatbush, East Flatbush, Midwood, Ditmas Park.)
Bichotte recommended that, in addition to sending new ballots to all affected voters, the Board implements further quality checks, including sending trained staff members to oversee the production and shipment of ballots at off-site locations.
“The Board will also need to inform voters who unknowingly returned the erroneous ballots, that they will not be counted, and make sure these voters are educated about the need to fill out the new, corrected ballots,” said Bichotte.
Bichotte said to further ensure that these problems don’t continue Brooklyn needs to install an election commissioner to oversee the process and prevent future rollout errors from occurring, which it currently does not have.
Bichotte nominated Rodney Pepe-Souvenir back in July for the position, but has met resistance getting her officially sworn in on the job in part to the COVID-19 crisis and politicking, a source had said.
“Perceived threats to our democracy emerging from the federal government are exacerbated when confidence in the absentee voting process is undercut. I wholeheartedly sympathize with voters across the county who are troubled by these events. The state Legislature has worked hard to implement election reform to carry us through these unprecedented times. This error undermines our efforts to make voting more accessible and transparent,” said Bichotte.
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams said the BOE has once again fallen short on this basic task, and for that there must be accountability.
“Trust in our democratic process must be absolute, and errors like these are particularly unacceptable for disenfranchised communities who have suffered disproportionately from COVID-19 and depend on fair elections to address decades of systemic inequality and injustice. We can and must swiftly right this wrong and encourage in-person voting for all those who are able, strictly adhering to public health guidelines by handing out masks and hand sanitizer, creating outdoor voting booths, and anything else necessary. This upcoming election will be one of the most important in modern history. We will not let deliberate sabotage, political cynicism, or bureaucratic screw-ups cast the results into doubt,” he said.
If you received an erroneous ballot or want more information visit the Board of Elections website (https://www.vote.nyc/page/abs
Editor’s note: the previous contact information was incorrect and KCP corrected it. We regret the error.
