FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 28, 2020
Due to a clerical error, a small number of Charlottesville voters did not receive Envelope A containing their mail ballots
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA - Around September 18, 2020, the Charlottesville Office of Voter Registration sent out and unprecedented 8,968 mail ballots to City voters. Due to a clerical error a small number of voters were mailed ballots without an Envelope A. Envelope A contains the actual ballot.
Ballots were mailed in three batches. The second-half of the smallest third batch was inadvertently labeled “ready” before Envelope A, containing the ballot, was inserted. This issue has affected a small number of voters in Johnson, Buford, Venable and Alumni Hall precincts.
- A voter who received their ballot package without Envelope A should call the Voter Registration Office at (434) 970-3250. We will reissue the ballot immediately. Alternatively, the voter can come to the office and vote in person.
- In addition to increasing our staffing to handle the unprecedented volume of early voting, we have also initiated further quality control measures to confirm each ballot package has an Envelope A within it. As the Director of Elections/General Registrar, Melissa A. Morton will be personally inserting each Envelope A (containing the ballot) into each mail ballot package.
- With each batch that is mailed, there is a Certificate of Mailing that lists what voters were mailed ballots within that batch. As stated, we have isolated this issue to a small portion of a specific batch.
- Only one ballot can be checked in per voter. In order to protect the integrity of the election process, a loose, unassociated mail ballot cannot be checked in or counted.
Again, a voter should contact us immediately if they have not received an Envelope A within their ballot package.
The Office of Voter Registration and Elections sincerely apologizes for this error and will take all necessary steps to correct this error immediately and ensure it does not happen again.
Media Contact
Melissa Morton
Director of Elections and General Registrar
City of Charlottesville
434-970-3250
mortonm@charlottesville.gov
