Voters Across Brooklyn Get Absentee Ballot Return Envelopes with Wrong Name and Address

The city Board of Elections sent absentee ballots to some Brooklyn voters with return envelopes bearing strangers’ names and addresses, THE CITY has learned.

In those cases, if a voter fills out their presidential election ballot and sends it in as instructed, their vote could be attributed to another person.

As of late Monday, THE CITY had received calls and emails from several voters affected by the apparent screwup in at least five neighborhoods: Sheepshead Bay, Crown Heights, Prospect Heights, Park Slope and DUMBO.

Victoria Edel, of Sheepshead Bay, said she received a return envelope with the name and address of a woman who lives one street away and has a last name that begins with a D.

“This is not my ballot, we have this random lady’s ballot — it’s like they messed this up in a big way,” said Edel, 28.

Valerie Vasquez, a spokesperson for the city Board of Elections, blamed a vendor hired by the agency, Phoenix Graphics of Rochester, N.Y., hired to print and distribute absentee ballots in Brooklyn and Queens.

She said the board is trying to understand the scope of the problem and what to do about it.

“We are determining how many voters have been affected but we can assure that the vendor will address this problem in future mailings, and make sure people who received erroneous envelopes receive new ones,” she wrote in response to questions from THE CITY. “We will ensure on behalf of the voters in Brooklyn that the proper ballots and ballot envelopes are in the hands of the voters in advance of Election Day so they can vote.”

A message sent by THE CITY to Phoenix late Monday was not immediately returned. The Board of Elections in May awarded Phoenix a $4.6 million contract to handle absentee ballots.

The contract was a negotiated acquisition, which means that there was no competitive bidding. Phoenix was the only vendor contacted by BOE for the job, the city comptroller’s Checkbook NYC system shows.

Votes Would be Voided

The voters who contacted THE CITY reported receiving their absentee ballots in the mail Monday as requested. Each got a ballot along with an “official absentee ballot envelope” into which they were instructed to place their...

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