It’s 2020, and the hits just keep on coming, folks. As many of you are no doubt aware, thousands of people across Brooklyn have received absentee ballots with return envelopes bearing the wrong voter name and address. Gothamist noted that voters in Park Slope, Prospect Heights, Carroll Gardens, Crown Heights, Clinton Hill, Bushwick, Flatbush, Brooklyn Heights, and Sunset Park have reported the issue. The Board of Elections is blaming the error on the vendor that printed the ballots. Yesterday a BOE spokesperson said, "We are determining how many voters have been affected but we can assure that the vendor will address this problem in future mailings, and make sure people who received erroneous envelopes receive new ones," the spokesperson said. According to Assemblywoman Jo Anne Simon, the BOE is making the vendor re-do the entire mailing, so you should receive a corrected ballot automatically by Nov 3rd even if you do nothing at all. (You can also try calling 1-866-VOTE-NYC or email Apply4Absentee @boe.nyc) A second issue creating confusion is the printing of the text “Official Absentee Military Ballot” at the top of the ballot. This is the correct ballot, even if you are not serving in the military. It would have been better had they printed “Absentee/Military” – but the ballot is the same and is fine to use. Remember - this year, registered voters can vote in one of three ways: By absentee ballot, in-person early voting, or in-person voting on Election Day, November 3, 2020. 1) VOTE EARLY: Saturday October 24 - Sunday November 1
Find an early voting site here. 2) VOTE-BY-MAIL: request a ballot by Tuesday October 27
Registered NYC voters may request an absentee ballot until October 27th. (Please be warned that despite this deadline, the Post Office has advised they cannot guarantee timely delivery of ballots applied for less than 15 days before an election.) **An absentee ballot must be postmarked by Election Day November 3, 2020 and must reach the Board of Elections no more than 7 days after the election to be counted** 3) VOTE ON ELECTION DAY: Tuesday November 3
Check your polling place address, verify your voter information, and confirm your voter district information, all in one convenient location: voterlookup.elections.ny.gov |
