ASHLAND — Mailers from the Ohio Secretary of State are causing confusion in Ashland but officials have assured there is nothing to fear.
On Tuesday, voters in Ashland County began receiving mailers from the Secretary of State. The piece of mail informs voters on the three ways of voting and encourages voters to fill out and return the application by Oct. 25 if they want to vote that way. (The deadline to register to vote as an absentee is Oct. 29.)
The problem? The listed city on the return address is wrong — seemingly sending it instead to Jefferson, Ohio.
“Voters are just concerned they’re receiving something bogus,” said Shannon Johnson, the deputy director of the Ashland County Board of Elections.
She said the office has received around dozen calls since Tuesday from confused voters.
“It’s not bogus. It’s a state form that just has a slight error in it,” she said.
A spokesman from the SOS said the office is “working through a plan to take additional steps to alleviate confusion for voters that includes text messages, emails, and sending an additional mailer to those impacted.”
Dan Lusheck, the office’s deputy communications director, said the issue originated with the U.S. Postal Service, “who is responsible for the artwork” on the mailers.
“We are not required to give prior approval once they have their final proof before it goes to the vendor. Essentially, they like to have a level of control so they can assure it is correct, even though a mistake was made in this instance,” Lusheck said.
How many voters affected?
The mailers will go out to all 33,146 registered voters in Ashland County. Johnson said Ashland County was the only county in Ohio affected by this error.
Lusheck said USPS is aware of the issue.
“USPS has confirmed with our office that this will not impact the deliverability for voters who use the return envelope,” he said.
That’s because the “Jefferson OH” issue is only a language issue. The barcode directly under the return address, known as the Intelligent Mail Black Bar” was not affected by the clerical error.
“If they use the return envelope with the incorrect information, it will still be received by the Ashland County Board of Elections,” Lusheck said.
Johnson confirmed.
“So all mailings should return to our office with no problems,” reads an announcement posted to the Ashland County Board of Elections’ Facebook page.
Still worried?
Still, if voters in Ashland are concerned their absentee ballot applications will get lost in the mail, Johnson encouraged them to drop off the forms to the office or simply leave them in the drop box outside.
can also use their own stamps and mail the absentee ballot applications to the office.
The correct address is listed below:
Ashland County Board of Elections
110 Cottage St., Ste. 106
Ashland, OH 44805
Those with further questions can call the board of elections office at 419-282-4224.
Early in-person voting and absentee voting in Ohio begins Oct. 8. For more information and deadlines, visit the state’s voting schedule.