WINCHESTER — Voter registrars in the Northern Shenandoah Valley are advising residents to be wary of authentic-looking election materials that keep showing up in mailboxes.
Two of the mailers, Winchester Voter Registrar Elizabeth Martin said, could actually designate a person as someone who can only cast absentee ballots for the rest of their life.
The mailers that can change where and how you vote in future elections are being distributed by two political-action groups that share the same Richmond address, The Voter Participation Center (VPC) and Center for Voter Information (CVI). Both mailers include a form to request an absentee ballot and a return envelope that is already addressed to the recipient’s local voter registrar — for example, the Winchester Voter Registrar’s Office at 107-A N. East Lane. Martin said this could lead some people to believe these are official documents that must be submitted in order for voters to participate in future elections.
According to information provided by VPC and CVI, a total of 18,256 mailers containing absentee ballot requests will be sent to homes in Winchester, Frederick County and Clarke County between Aug. 4-Sept. 8.
VPC and CVI, both of which are registered as nonprofit, non-partisan organizations, say the purpose behind the mailers is to encourage election participation from as many eligible voters as possible.
When a person fills out the enclosed form from a VPC or CVI mailer, it is returned to the person’s local voter registrar and entered into a locality’s database of eligible voters, ostensibly saving the person from having to physically visit the office of elections.
Martin said that could cause myriad problems. For example, people may misread one of the questions on the form and inadvertently check a box stating they want to vote by mail in all future elections. If they do, the local registrar will note that information in the database, which will cause problems when voters try to cast ballots in person at their designated precinct.
Also, VPC, CVI and other political groups who distribute mailers do not use the names and addresses in official voting databases, but instead acquire mailing lists that are often outdated. That means mailers are sent to people who are dead or otherwise ineligible to vote.
Martin provided a copy of a Virginia voter registration application that was distributed in a recent mailer by an unidentified political-action group. The recipient, Forrest Custer of Winchester, had died in 2015.
“So please don’t use my dad’s vote to vote illegally,” Custer’s son, Jeffrey Custer, wrote on the form that was returned to Martin’s office.
Winchester Deputy Registrar Tabatha Duncan said her office has also learned that voter registration forms have been sent locally to children under the age of 18 and people who are not United States citizens.
Bottom line, Martin said, is that local voter registrars rarely send information in the mail. Anyone who receives a political mailer and is confused by its purpose or authenticity should call their local office of elections for guidance.
The phone number for the Winchester Voter Registrar’s Office is 540-545-7910. The Frederick County voter registrar can be reached at 540-665-5660, and the Clarke County voter registrar’s number is 540-955-5168.
