KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Local election officials in Kansas and Missouri said some common mistakes were made in the August primary that resulted in ballots being rejected.
Shawn Kieffer with the Kansas City Election Board explained that some of those mistakes included not signing the absentee envelope, not notarizing their ballot, and mailing the ballot too late.
Kieffer said around three hundred ballots were rejected for mistakes.
In Wyandotte County, election commissioner Bruce Newby said 270 ballots were rejected in August for a number of reasons. One common error was people not signing the voter affidavit, which is statement #1 on the back of the return envelope of their mail-in ballot.
In Kansas City, Missouri, Kieffer said voters need to closely follow the instructions to make sure their ballot is counted.
"Make sure it's filled properly. Give us no issues on trying to decipher on what you're trying to do. Write legibly, get them in early and that's my best advice,” explained Kieffer.
Kieffer said if mistakes are noticed early, staff will attempt to contact the voter to correct the error. However, ballots received closer to election day with errors are not guaranteed to get callbacks from staff because of an increase in work.
The Kansas City Election Board expects around 40,000 people to vote absentee or mail-in for the November election.
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