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Invalid Absentee Ballot Request Forms Sent To 80,000 Voters

Sample ballot request form courtesy North Carolina State Board of Elections.

A voter advocacy group mailed invalid absentee ballot request forms to about 80,000 North Carolinians. 

State Board of Elections officials say the ballot request forms were sent with the voter's information already filled out.

A state law passed last year prohibits election officials from accepting ballot request forms that have been filled out "partially or in whole."

The advocacy group, The Center For Voter Information (CVI), is based in Washington, D.C. The organization has halted any additional mailings with pre-filled voter information. 

According to a news release, the State Board has instructed county officials not to process the requests. Letters will be sent to voters informing them of the issue, along with blank request forms.

CVI had asked the State Board to review a sample mailing in April, but staffers did not notice the pre-filled forms at that time.

Election officials discovered the issue after the forms were already sent to voters.

CVI issued a statement saying believed that it was complying with the new law, and had received written assurances from the state regarding its mailing. 

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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