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Address glitch sends mail-in ballots back to Columbiana voters
LISBON
Some early-voting mail-in ballots in Columbiana County elections aren’t making it to the board of elections office and are instead being returned to voters.
The board of elections used about 50 to 100 pre-paid envelopes to mail back ballots with its former office at 41 N. Park Ave. in Lisbon as the return address, said Adam Booth, its director. The board moved in June 2012 to its location at 7989 Dickey Drive.
This was done after board officials checked with the Lisbon postmaster, he said.
Fewer than 10 people as of Wednesday had called the board to say their ballots were returned, Booth said.
“We’ve received about a couple of dozen [at the board] with the old address,” he said.
To make people aware of the potential problem, the board sent postcards explaining the situation and providing the correct address to about 200 people who asked for early-voting mail-in ballots and have not yet mailed them, Booth said.
They were sent to about 200 people because the board doesn’t know who received the envelopes with the old address, he said.
The problem, Booth said, appears to be that postal service mail-sorting locations outside the county are automatically removing some of the envelopes with the old board address.