Incorrect absentee ballots issue spreads to Long Island

LONG ISLAND - Just one day after nearly 100,000 defective mail-in ballots were sent to people in Brooklyn, hundreds of people on Long Island have reported receiving erroneous absentee ballots in the mail.

Roughly 800 ballots with mismatched names and addresses were sent to voters. The mishap was reportedly caused by a paper jam and a software update happening at the same time.

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"We have prided ourselves on accuracy and quality in our 40-year history of printing ballots. We are truly sorry for the inconvenience that has occurred. We are actively making necessary production adjustments to prevent such errors in the future," said Phoenix Graphics of Rochester, the company who was apparently behind the problem.

New York City's Board of Elections addressed the issue, saying it was "committed to ensuring every voter has a voice and the chance to cast their ballot without fear of fraud or disenfranchisement. The Board is sending out a second absentee ballot package with the corrected information to all voters who may have been affected by this error."

According to the BoE, Phoenix is picking up the tab for the second batch of absentee ballots, and the city's voter identification system makes it virtually impossible to vote twice.

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Nevertheless, upon hearing of the issue, President Trump tweeted "Wow! 100,000 Mail In Ballots in New York City a total MESS. Mayor and Governor have no idea what to do. Big Fraud, Unfixable! Cancel Ballots and go out and VOTE, just like in past decades, when there were no problems!"

But experts say that the effort of dissuading Americans to vote by mail may become the real issue in the 2020 election.

"This election cycle will cost $15B, that's what is expected to be spent on partisan campaigns, almost nothing is spent on election administration, and this is what happens," said Debra Cleaver of VoteAmerica.com.

Voters should expect to start receiving replacement ballots during the week of October 9. If you have any questions, visit Vote.NYC