A postcard was sent from the West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office informing people they may be eligible to vote, but are not registered. Cards have been sent out to people who are registered to vote and people who have died. This card was sent to the spouse of a Parkersburg News and Sentinel employee. The spouse died almost two years ago.
PARKERSBURG, W.Va. — Cards informing people they may be eligible to vote, but are not registered, are being sent out to people who should not be getting them, including the deceased.
The Wood County Clerk’s Office has been dealing with cards sent out recently by the West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office.
Wood County Clerk Mark Rhodes said people have come in and informed them cards had been sent to a deceased spouse. Others were already registered to vote, but also had a card sent to them.
“We have had several people who have called in and/or have brought cards in,” Rhodes said.
Rhodes said all county clerks were e-mailed a sample of the card the day they were mailed out, not prior, he said, adding they did not have any input into the process.
The cards say “Our records indicate you may be eligible to vote, but aren’t registered. If you are at least 18-year-old, a U.S. Citizen of West Virginia, visit… www.govotewv.com Click register to vote and complete the form. Two minutes. Click. Done. It’s that simple.”
On the other side of the card, it says “To vote in the November General Election you must register by October 18, 2016. Don’t wait until it’s too late. Your vote is your voice. Mark your calendars Early voting: October 26-November 5 Election Day: November 8. If you have questions or need assistance contact the West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office by e-mail at [email protected] or phone by 866-767-8683.”
The postcard mailing is part of West Virginia’s membership with the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), a nonprofit organization whose mission is “assisting states to improve the accuracy of America’s voter rolls and increase access to voter registration to eligible citizens,”said Deputy Secretary of State Sheryl Webb. “It matched the Statewide Voter Registration data with DMV, United States Post Office, other states and the Social Security Administration.”
West Virginia is the 17th voting member of ERIC. Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Louisiana, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Washington, D.C. are already members.
With ERIC, county clerks and the Secretary of State’s Office have a comprehensive tool to help improve voter registration and voter list maintenance across West Virginia, officials said. ERIC matches data from member states (border states of Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia included) and looks for: voters who’ve moved in state, voters who’ve moved out of state, voters who’ve died, duplicate registrations and individuals who are potentially eligible to vote, but are not yet registered.
The Secretary of State’s Office has been receiving calls regarding the cards, Webb said.
“We are very happy to be hearing from constituents in order to help improve the accuracy of our voter rolls,” she said. “We have been able to find errors in their current registration record that have incorrect birthdates or addresses and provided information on how to correct those errors.”
So far, a couple of people who have received cards in Wood County were already registered to vote, Rhodes said after personnel did a check in the county records.
Others were upset that a deceased spouse had received a card.
In one case, Rhodes checked and verified the spouse was no longer on the county’s active voter list for an individual.
Rhodes said they check to see if someone is registered to vote and if they have voted in a recent election.
The only thing he found which might have caused those people to be marked to be sent a card is a difference in their zip code listing, listing the four extra digits some zip codes now have on the cards that did not completely match up with other records. He was also checking on when the initial data was pulled to do the card mailings, but he said he has not gotten a clear answer on that.
They continue to check for the people who have questions about their voter registration.
“We keep rolling through the calls we are getting to make sure the voter rolls are up to date,”Rhodes said.
Rhodes advises people with questions to contact the Secretary of State’s Office at the e-mail and/or phone number listed on the cards.
