Thousands of residents in Alexandria and Fairfax County received a confusing piece of mail this week — an application for absentee voting that they did not request and has incorrect information on it.
Absentee voting and voting by mail have become political flashpoints this year as concerns about COVID-19 threaten to keep people away from the polls this November. A new, Republican-appointed Postmaster General has made changes that are resulting in widely reported slowdowns in mail delivery — and concerns about whether mail-in ballots will arrive safely and be counted.
Adding to those concerns: About 500,000 Virginia residents received absentee ballot applications that they did not request and have an incorrect address on the return envelope.
The Center for Voter Information, which mailed the applications, said in a statement Thursday: “We are aware that some of the mailers may have directed the return envelopes to the wrong election offices.”
The concern is that if an absentee ballot application goes to the wrong election offices, that application may not be processed. In addition, some applications were mailed to people who were deceased or ineligible to vote.
"Please rest assured that we are working with local election officials in Virginia to redirect the vote-by-mail applications to the proper locations, and will rectify any errors at our own expense,” according to the organization.
Fairfax County is also working with the City of Fairfax to ensure applications are processed correctly.
“This mailing is causing great confusion and concern among voters who have been contacting our office,” said Fairfax County General Registrar Gary Scott. “While the mailing may appear to be from an official government agency, the Fairfax County Office of Elections did not send it.” (Read more here.)
It appears that the mailings sent to voters in the City of Alexandria have the correct return address on them. However, the City of Alexandria is encouraging residents to send a request to vote by mail through the Virginia Board of Elections website.
Voters who already requested an absentee ballot do not need to do so a second time.
Ballots will be mailed to voters beginning the week of Sept. 18. Voters are encouraged to fill out their ballot and mail it as soon as they have made a final decision about their vote.
Residents who want to vote by mail are encouraged to request an absentee ballot through the Virginia Board of Elections website here: https://vote.elections.virginia.gov/VoterInformation.
