Mislabeling of absentee ballots leaves some Mecklenburg voters getting two
On the first day absentee ballots went out, Mecklenburg County sent 70,000. Some voters got two.
County election officials say they found that some ballots intended for voters in Matthews were mislabeled with the wrong voter names. They were shredded before being sent.
But in trying to correct it with a second set of mailing labels, some voters inadvertently got two of the same ballots.
Election Director Michael Dickerson said the mix-up affected less than 500 voters.
But there’s no chance that voters can vote twice. Each mailing label has a unique identifier that prohibits that. Plus voting more than once is a felony.
“It’s not something I’m worried about, people voting twice,” Dickerson said. “I’m more upset that we didn’t catch the second mailing.”
Election boards across the state are dealing with a flood of absentee ballot requests — 813,000 through Monday.
The Mecklenburg mix-up affected one of 79 ballot “styles,” or customized ballots reflecting multiple congressional, legislative, county and judicial districts.
This story was originally published September 15, 2020 at 6:44 PM.
