By Megan Alley
Sun Reporter
A political action committee that was established to support the New Richmond Exempted Village School District’s levy campaign recently took it upon itself to try to manage absentee ballot responses, a move that could render some votes invalid.
According to a Feb. 25 message on the Clermont County government Facebook page, “Some voters in the New Richmond Exempted Village School District may have received a flyer from [WeAreNR], urging you to return your voted ballot in the addressed and stamped envelope which was enclosed with the flyer.”
The Clermont County Board of Elections reminds voters that absentee ballots must be returned in the official Identification Envelope provided by the Board of Elections.
The United States Postal Service has specific procedures for expeditiously processing Official Election Mail.
Clermont County Board of Elections Director Julia Carney confirmed that there was a problem.
She said that the issue was brought to her attention a day earlier, on Feb. 24, when a local resident called and said that he had received the flyer and regular business sized envelope, which had postage already affixed and was addressed to the county board of elections.
To confirm the details, Carney asked the resident to send her a photo of the materials, which they did.
Carney and her team then reached out to the WeAreNR PAC, who then put up a statement its website and Facebook pages, and apologized for the error.
The statement reads, “You may have recently received a letter encouraging you to vote in the March 17 election and providing an addressed, stamped envelope. We have been notified that ballots returned in our envelopes WILL NOT be counted. Please discard that envelope immediately and use the envelope provided by the Board of Elections to return your ballot. We apologize for any confusion.”
As of Feb. 25, the county board of elections had not received any completed ballots mailed in the WeAreNR envelope.
Carney went on to explain the processes that would be used for any ballots received in the WeAreNR envelope in the future.
If the board of elections receives a completed ballot in the WeAreNR envelope, and the Identification Envelope is also included, the ballot can be processed as normally.
If the board of elections receives a completed ballot in the WeAreNR envelope, and the Identification Envelope is not included, then the board of elections will contact the voter to discuss how they can vote properly.
If the board of elections receives a completed ballot in the WeAreNR envelope without any type of identification, then the ballot will not be counted.
Any voter who is concerned that their ballot may not be considered valid is invited to track the status of their absentee ballot via the board of elections’ ‘Voter View’ web-portal at https://boe.clermontcountyohio.gov/voter-view/.
Or, voters may call the county board of elections at 513-732-7275.
As to whether or not WeAreNR’s action was illegal, Carey said that the county board of elections’ legal counsel has reviewed the issue, and has not made a determination at this time.
A representative for WeAreNR office did not immediately return a request for comment by the time of publication.