Nassau County executive demands fix to voter mail check card error
NASSAU COUNTY, Long Island (WABC) -- Officials in Nassau County are demanding answers after the county's Board of Elections sent out mailers telling voters they were registered with the Democratic Party even though they are supposed to be registered as Republicans or other parties.
It impacted more than 500,000 voters in Nassau County which is more than half of all registered voters. Democrats were correctly notified about their enrollment.
The Nassau County Board of Elections, county executive and attorney are all investigating how it happened -- but one thing they can all agree on is that the error came from the printing company.
"I want to let the public know that we are aware of this circumstance and that we have been assured that this situation is going to be resolved," County Executive Bruce Blakeman said.
Blakeman, who is a Republican, said the calls from Republican and Conservative voters are pouring in.
"How come I'm being identified as a Democrat? Who changed my registration and they're quite upset about it," Blakeman said.
Blakeman believes it was an error by the mailing house vendor that the Board of Elections used called Phoenix Graphics based out of Rochester.
"That's neglect, a company that's sending out an important document like that? That's not good," said Mineola resident Amura Dillon.
Blakeman said he doesn't believe the Democratic Party is "engaged in a conspiracy to create havoc in their own primaries."
It all happened about a month before the primaries. Nassau County residents said they hope they will get the error fixed in time.
Jim Scheuerman, Nassau County Democratic Elections Commissioner, said they are aware of the issue and new cards are being reissued on Tuesday.
"This was a printing error on the part of the vendor," Scheuerman said. "The cards are being reissued today with an apology from the vendor and the correct Party information. All voter information is accurate in our system, this purely a vendor error that is quickly being rectified."
It will cost the Board of Elections about $300,000 to fix the mistake.
The printing company, Phoenix Graphics, released the following statement:
"Phoenix Graphics Inc. made a human error on Voter Information Cards for Nassau County. The voters party affiliation may have been incorrect on the first mailing however polling site information is correct. We take responsibility for that. As soon as it was discovered we moved immediately to remedy the situation. This is an isolated event, but we apologize for our mistake, especially to Nassau County officials, who bear no responsibility for this problem. We have fixed the error and at no cost to taxpayers will deliver corrected Voter Information Cards as soon as possible."
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