A D.C. based liberal group has been found to be mailing illegal and incorrect pre-filled absentee ballot request forms to voters. The group, Center for Voter Information, is affiliated with the Voter Participation Center started in 2003 by Democrat consultant Page Gardner.

CVI absentee ballot request form, image via Fairfax County government.

80,000 pre-filled absentee ballot requests were sent to North Carolina voters this year, a violation of a 2019 state law prohibiting the practice. In Virginia, the group said it sent half a million incorrect absentee forms to voters across the state after the D.C. suburb of Fairfax County warned voters about the forms.

Excerpt from a warning issued Thursday by Fairfax County:

Fairfax County election officials want to alert voters about an inaccurate and potentially misleading mailing from the Center for Voter Information.

Be on the lookout for this inaccurate mailing to county voters that sending unsolicited applications to be returned the City Fairfax.

This group is mass mailing pre-filled, absentee ballot applications to county voters without their request—and the mailer includes return envelopes to send the application to the City of Fairfax, not Fairfax County.

“This mailing is causing great confusion and concern among voters who have been contacting our office,” said Fairfax County General Registrar Gary Scott. “While the mailing may appear to be from an official government agency, the Fairfax County Office of Elections did not send it.”

The mailing is also confusing voters who have previously submitted absentee ballot applications themselves, Scott added. These voters are worried that their applications were not received, leading them to think they need to apply again.

Fairfax County is working with the City of Fairfax to ensure any applications received from the center’s inaccurate mailing will be processed by the county…

Statement by CVI on the Virginia fiasco issued Thursday:

The Center for Voter Information recently sent vote-by-mail applications to voters in Virginia, encouraging them to safely participate in democracy. We are aware that some of the mailers may have directed the return envelopes to the wrong election offices, particularly in the Fairfax area of northern Virginia.

Approximately half a million applications sent to eligible voters in Virginia included incorrect information, and we are working diligently to address the issues. Mistakes in our programming are very rare, but we take them seriously, and our methods overall are extraordinarily effective. In fact, we have worked with our partner, the Voter Participation Center, to successfully generate nearly 800,000 vote by mail applications across the country, and helped more than 5 million people register to vote in our history.

We know that voters are on high alert as the November election approaches, and we regret adding to any confusion. Please rest assured that we are working with local election officials in Virginia to re-direct the vote-by-mail applications to the proper locations, and will rectify any errors at our own expense.

Statement by CVI on the North Carolina mailing issued June 10:

The non-profit and non-partisan Center for Voter Information (CVI) announced today that it is mailing blank absentee-ballot request forms to 80,000 North Carolina residents. The mail recipients previously had received request forms that CVI had partially filled out with the recipient’s name and address. CVI is sending out the new mailings voluntarily, to ensure maximum voter participation in the state.

In a press release today, the North Carolina State Board of Elections stated that, due to a new state law, civic-engagement groups such as CVI cannot send ballot request forms “with voters’ information already filled out on the forms.” Although CVI had previously shared samples of the mail pieces with state election officials, CVI decided today to send a fresh batch of blank absentee forms to prospective voters, in an abundance of caution.

As a convenience, CVI had filled out the names and addresses of the 80,000 North Carolina residents, as is common and legal in most states. However, the new state law in North Carolina is poorly worded and states that a request for absentee ballots is not valid if the “completed written request is completed, partially or in whole…” CVI believed that it was complying with the new law, and had received written assurances from the state regarding its mailing.

CVI and its partner group, the Voter Participation Center (VPC), mail registration applications to unregistered individuals, and absentee-ballot request forms to registered individuals, along with pre-addressed envelopes to make it easy to bring democracy to the doorstep of so many people. Since 2003, the organizations have helped register more than 4.6 million voters nationally.

As millions of Americans self-isolate because of the coronavirus pandemic, mail-based voter registration and vote-by-mail efforts have never been more important. CVI and VPC run the nation’s largest mail-based voter registration program, and their work is crucial today.

UPDATE: Statement by the Virginia Department of Elections:

The Center for Voter Information recently mailed absentee ballot applications to Virginia residents. The Virginia Department of Elections has no affiliation with this group nor coordinates with any third party groups on campaign efforts.

We are aware that voters in multiple localities that received an absentee ballot application were given pre-paid return envelopes addressed to the incorrect registrar’s office.

The Virginia Department of Elections encourages all voters that would like to receive an absentee ballot for the November election to apply electronically on our website www.elections.virginia.gov/voterinformation.

Any applications that arrive in the wrong locality’s office will be forwarded immediately to the correct office for processing.

If you have already applied for an absentee ballot, you do not need to submit a new application. The first day that absentee ballots will be mailed is September 18, 2020. Other inquiries regarding this mailing can be directed to the Center for Voter Information.

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