(SmyrnaVinings.News) — The Athens-Clarke County Unified Government Elections Department has discovered an error in a mailing list that allowed for a second absentee ballot to be mailed to 1,154 registered voters who requested an absentee ballot for the Nov. 3 general election.
Absentee ballots and in-person ballots are tied to an individual voter. Because of this, the statewide elections system is designed to prevent more than one ballot from being cast, even if a voter receives a second ballot due to an error or requests a second one because they did not receive the first and later receive both.
Voters who may have received a second absentee ballot in any situation should complete only one ballot. Voters can destroy the extra ballot by shredding it or bring the blank absentee ballot to the ACCGov Elections Department at 155 E. Washington Street.
Voters should not mail extra absentee ballots separately, place them in the trash or recycling intact, give them to another voter, or include them in the same envelope as a completed ballot.
Under Georgia law, the first group of absentee ballots was mailed to voters who requested them by a state-authorized print vendor on Oct. 5. On Oct. 7, the Elections Department learned that two absentee ballots had been received from some Athens-Clarke County voters. After investigating, the department determined that a mailing list provided to the printer included addresses from an earlier mailing list.
In addition to sending public notifications about the error, the ACCGov Elections Department is sending expedited notices directly to all affected voters on Thursday, Oct. 8. Department staff is also implementing additional measures to supplement regular election system processes and ensure all returned absentee ballots are reviewed upon receipt and that each voter only casts one ballot.
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