PELHAM — After requesting a mail-in ballot for voting in the Nov. 3 state election, Bob Andres received a package from the town clerk’s office giving him the opportunity to vote for candidates and decide referendum questions.
Yet what he found inside the mailing was two identical cards, both featuring the first page of the ballot. The second page — including the last two referendum questions — was missing.
Andres soon discovered he was not alone with the problematic mail-in ballot, as the packages both his wife and a few neighbors received had the same issue.
“So the ballots are not valid,” Andres said.
Town Clerk Melissa Hibbard, who was soon looped in, said she is in the midst of fixing the problem, observing that it apparently was caused by a vendor hired by the Secretary of the Commonwealth to put together these mail-in ballot packages.
“It wasn’t my mistake,” Hibbard said. “Vendors make up the packets, and the ones I checked were fine.”
In fact, before sending the packages out to around 280 voters who requested them — or a little under one-third of the registered voters in town — Hibbard examined a portion of the packages to make sure they were in order.
Voters who received a defective ballot can exchange it during early voting. Early voting began Saturday at the town offices, 351 Amherst Road, and continues on several days over the two weeks leading up to Election Day. The original ballot will be spoiled. The replacement can be cast that day, returned by mail or left in the town’s drop box.
Hibbard said it’s uncertain how many people are affected, but that she’s “only gotten a few messages.”
Debra O’Malley, director of communications for the Secretary of the Commonwealth, said the issue with the ballots is not believed to be widespread.
“We have reached out to our vendor to report the issue, though it does appear to be isolated,” O’Malley said.
O’Malley said her office learned of the problem this week. Hibbard reported that voters had received two copies of page one rather than one of each page.
O’Malley explains that most cities and towns in Massachusetts choose to receive these pre-stuffed ballot kits from the state’s ballot printer, which makes mailing the ballots faster.
These kits include a ballot, ballot instructions and a return mail envelope, all inserted into the outer mailing envelope. They are mechanically stuffed by the vendor and shipped directly to the clerks’ offices throughout the state.
O’Malley adds that Hibbard has now checked all of the remaining ballot kits and confirmed that they are correct. Out of an abundance of caution, however, Hibbard was advised to reach out to voters through the town website and other means, to let them know how to check their ballot package for both pages.
“Anyone who received a package without both pages can get a replacement from the town clerk,” O’Malley said.
Hibbard put a notice on the town website reading “Alert Regarding Mail-In Ballots for State Election.”
“It has come to my attention that some of the pre-made mail-in ballot packets from the state may have contained two of page one. They should have page one and page two.
If you are one of those recipients, please call my office so we can correct this immediately.”
