NEW YORK (AP) — Mail-in voting has gotten off to a rocky start in New York City, where election officials sent out a large number of absentee ballots with the wrong names and addresses on the return envelopes.
The faulty ballots were sent to an unknown number of voters in Brooklyn and could result in ballots being voided if voters sign their own name on return envelopes bearing different names. More than 140,000 ballots have already been sent out so far across the borough. It was unclear how many people got the wrong envelopes.
The city Board of Elections is blaming the problem on the vendor that was contracted to print and mail the ballots for voters in Brooklyn and Queens.
Board of Elections head Michael J. Ryan says the proper ballots and envelopes will get to voters before the Nov. 3 election.
But it’s unclear exactly how the city will handle voters who had already mailed their completed ballot back in the provided envelopes.
Ryan said elections workers will reach out to voters by social media and, if available, by telephone and email addresses. And he said the board will ensure all received ballots are “appropriately processed” and tallied votes are “properly credited” to voters.