COBB COUNTY, Ga. — A viewer reached out to 11Alive for help, concerned after he said multiple absentee ballots were sent to his family in Cobb County.
He was worried this may be happening to other people and wondered what the county was doing to make sure people don't vote more than once.
THE QUESTION
Is it possible to get multiple absentee ballots mailed to your home?
THE SOURCES
THE ANSWER
Yes, we can verify it is possible to get multiple ballots in the mail, but there are safeguards in place to ensure only one ballot is counted for each voter.
If you receive multiple ballots, Cobb County said you should destroy the extra ones.
WHAT WE FOUND
David Hanos claims his girlfriend's son received three absentee ballots in the mail after requesting one.
According to the pictures he sent 11Alive, the three envelopes came from the Cobb County Board of Elections and Registration, and were mailed to the same address.
"They weren't the applications, they were the physical ballots," Hanos explained. "He got three separate ballots delivered to the address that he requested."
Cobb County BOE's Director, Janine Eveler, confirmed this did happen and said they "inadvertently" sent out two ballots that were supposed to be voided because they were part of a "test run."
"We want the voting system to be strong, transparent and have a lot of integrity involved in it," Hanos added. "I don't know how that's 100% [assuring] when they should have only sent him one but somehow a glitch happened and somehow, something happened and somehow, he got three of them."
Eveler said the test ballots were put in the mailroom with other ballots and were accidentally sent out, but she couldn't say exactly how many test ballots were mailed.
So, what are the chances someone could cast multiple ballots? It's unlikely, according to Eveler, because your voter record is locked once you cast a ballot.
Our other sources explain each voter has a unique barcode – or number – and if a duplicate is scanned, election officials would then mark the ballot as rejected.
Cobb County adds that you could be reported as voting twice if this happens intentionally.
Hanos reached out to the board when he found out about this.
"I was then explained the way that no way could this young man have actually successfully sent in and had all three of his ballots counted if you want it to. He's probably going to go in and vote in person when he comes back to town," he added.
In a statement to 11Alive, here's what the Cobb Board of Elections said:
"We inadvertently sent out two ballots that were packed from our automation machine during two test runs. The ballots were supposed to be voided and not sent out, but apparently they were instead put with other ballots to go to the mailroom. These test run ballots did not have postage affixed but were delivered anyway.
The correct ballot was packed by hand, not by machine, on the following day and that was the third one he received. That ballot went through the full process and had postage affixed. It is impossible to accept more than one voted ballot if by chance someone returns more than one ballot. Once one ballot is accepted, the voter’s record is locked and another ballot cannot be accepted.
The test runs consisted of several ballots, although we don’t know the exact number. It’s possible they all went out to the mailroom. Sometimes the USPS will deliver election mail without postage, but sometimes it comes back undeliverable. If people receive more than one ballot and they are identical, they should vote one and destroy the other. If the two ballots are not the same, they should contact our office to determine the correct ballot to cast."