Three leading House Republicans accused the Washington, D.C., Board of Elections in a letter Thursday of failing to take responsibility for creating an “avoidable situation” that has resulted in reports of incorrect mailed ballots to the city’s residents.
The DCBOE announced in June it would mail ballots to every registered voter in the city, a policy that has resulted in numerous reports of ballots being mailed to people who have long since moved away from the address it was delivered to.
“Multiple reports exist of ballots being sent to residences in DC where voters no longer reside, either because they have moved or died,” Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jim Jordan of Ohio, Oversight Committee Ranking Member James Comer of Kentucky and Subcommittee on Government Operations Ranking Member Jody Hice of Georgia wrote in the letter.
“It is unclear whether the DC Board of Elections took any steps to prevent misaddressed ballots to be sent out in the first place,” the letter stated. “It is unclear when the Board last updated its voter rolls or whether it is currently taking any steps to rectify the current situation.”
Residents of the nation’s capital who have reported receiving incorrect ballots in the mail include Daily Caller reporters Richie McGinniss and Lauryn Overhultz. McGinnis said he received ballots for three people who haven’t lived at his address in over six years, and Overhultz reported receiving six incorrect ballots.
My official ballot arrived!
Along with ballots for four people who no longer live here (three of whom haven’t lived here in over SIX years)! pic.twitter.com/cO0MAC2HpC
— Richie????McG???? (@RichieMcGinniss) September 30, 2020
these official ballots arrived at my old 3-bedroom house in DC. we got 7 ballots total and only 1 was for someone who currently resides at the house pic.twitter.com/QK7FBPYIu0
— Lauryn (@Laurynnboo) October 1, 2020
“The dangers of these administrative errors are obvious: receiving multiple ballots permits individuals to fraudulently cast ballots in place of those for whom they are intended,” the letter stated. “Such a scenario also disenfranchises the voter to whom the ballot was misaddressed.”
According to the letter, the DCBOE has offered little guidance to residents on the matter, primarily through a tweet in late September directing them to mark any incorrect ballots “Return to Sender” and drop them back in the mail. (RELATED: Here Are All The States That Have Extended Their Mail-In Ballot Receipt Deadline)
A DCBOE spokesperson also told Fox News that it was asking voters to “do your part” and “don’t take advantage” of any incorrectly mailed ballots. The Daily Caller News Foundation was unable to locate any such guidance on the DCBOE’s website.
DCBOE spokesman Nick Jacobs confirmed that the election board is reviewing the letter, but he did not offer clarification when asked where else the DCBOE has advised residents to not take advantage of any incorrectly mailed ballots aside from its statement to Fox News.
“D.C. has firm procedures in place to ensure that fraudulent ballots are not counted and will pursue to the fullest extent of the law any instances of voter fraud,” Jacobs told the DCNF.
Jordan, Comer and Hice criticized DCBOE Chairman Michael Bennett in the letter for allegedly failing to take responsibility for the issue and for placing a “large onus squarely on individual citizens to clean up a mess solely of the Board’s making.”
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