100,000 Misprinted Absentee Ballots Sent in New York... Trump’s Concerns Become Reality?

Incorrect Entry of Important Information Such as Voter Names
Cases Where 'Military Absentee Voting' Was Sent to Ordinary Citizens

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] It has been confirmed that nearly 100,000 absentee ballots with important information such as voter names incorrectly printed were sent out in New York, USA.

On the 30th (local time), The New York Times (NYT) reported that an official from the New York City Board of Elections admitted that some absentee ballots for the November presidential election were sent out with printing errors.

NYT stated that cases were confirmed where names printed on the ballots did not match the actual residents at the addresses, or the addresses stamped on the return envelopes differed from those on the delivered envelopes.

There were also instances where absentee ballots sent to ordinary citizens were printed with "Military Absentee Ballot."

If an absentee ballot is cast with another person's name on it, the vote will be invalidated.

The New York City Board of Elections explained, "The subcontractor made a mistake during the initial printing process," and added, "If someone has already voted absentee without knowing the ballot was misprinted, they can still vote in person."

However, given that President Donald Trump has claimed "mail-in voting is fraud," this kind of mistake is expected to have a negative impact on the overall election.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio criticized the misprinting of absentee ballots as a "terrible mistake."

It is known that the misprinted absentee ballots were mainly sent out in Brooklyn, New York City.

In New York City, the absentee voting rate was around 4% in previous years, but due to the impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), the absentee voting rate surged to 40% in the June primary.

During the counting process at that time, tens of thousands of absentee ballots were invalidated in Brooklyn alone due to missing postmarks or signatures.