ATHENS, Ga. — More than 1,000 voters in Athens-Clarke County are opening their mailboxes to find a second absentee ballot.
County election leaders say that an error in a mailing list allowed two absentee ballots to be sent to 1,154 voters who requested one for the Nov. 3 general election.
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Leaders say they sent out ballots on Monday before learning that the mailing list given to the printers included addresses from a previous mailing list, leading to duplicates.
They say that absentee and in-person ballots are tied to individual voters, stopping anyone from being able to vote more than once.
“We understand that receiving two absentee ballots can be concerning to voters,” said Pam Long, Athens-Clarke County Elections Department Director. “We want our community to know that we identified the issue, are tracking the affected ballots, and have procedures in place to ensure that each eligible voter has only one ballot accepted.”
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Anyone who receives two mail-in ballots should only fill out and return one. The second can be shredded or returned in-person to the county elections office.
The extra should not be mailed back or placed in the trash can fully intact.
Election leaders say staff will be reviewing each received absentee ballot to make sure only one vote is submitted per voter.
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