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EL JEBEL — El Jebel’s ZIP code apparently caused confusion for an East Coast-based voter advocacy group that sent midvalley women applications for mail-in ballots that were addressed to the wrong county clerk.
This week, those same voters are receiving a second application for a mail-in ballot — this time addressed for delivery to the correct county.
The Voter Participation Center, a program of Washington D.C.-based Women’s Voices, Women Vote, mailed 280,000 applications for mail-in ballots to recipients in Colorado, according to communications director Sarah Johnson. About 11,000 of the mailings, or 4 percent of them, were addressed to the wrong county clerk and recorder, she said. The problem occurred in a couple of different locales, including a slice of the mid-Roaring Fork Valley.
Residents of the El Jebel area are assigned the Carbondale ZIP code for their mailing address, but reside in Eagle County. Carbondale, however, is in Garfield County.
“In cases where a ZIP code covered more than one county, some of them were addressed to the wrong county,” Johnson said.
The original applications went out about a month ago to El Jebel voters, addressed to be mailed to the Garfield County Clerk and Recorder. The organization recently mailed out a second flier, reading: “Oops! We made a mistake,” and explaining that the envelope supplied with the initial vote-by-mail application was incorrectly addressed. The latest mailing included a corrected ballot application.
How many Eagle County voters failed to catch the mistake and mailed back the application to the Garfield County Clerk and Recorder is difficult to say.
“I bet a lot of people probably didn’t even notice,” Johnson said.
A Colorado resident who received the mailing alerted Women’s Voices, Women Vote to the problem and the organization informed the Colorado Secretary of State and the counties involved as soon as the error was discovered, she said. County clerks assured the organization they’d forward any misdirected applications to the correct county clerk.
“I’ll tell you right now, county clerks are very good about forwarding it on, if it goes to the wrong county,” said Eagle County Clerk and Recorder Teak Simonton.
Garfield County Clerk Jean Alberico could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
The mailing went to Women’s Voices, Women Vote’s target audience — unmarried women and other women who tend to be underrepresented in the political process, according to Johnson.
Incidentally, voters who receive a ballot in the mail can either mail it back or return it in person to the proper county clerk’s office; it must be received by 7 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 4, in order to be counted.
Locally, Eagle County voters can also fill out the application in person at the Eagle County Community Center in El Jebel.
janet@aspentimes.com
This week, those same voters are receiving a second application for a mail-in ballot — this time addressed for delivery to the correct county.
The Voter Participation Center, a program of Washington D.C.-based Women’s Voices, Women Vote, mailed 280,000 applications for mail-in ballots to recipients in Colorado, according to communications director Sarah Johnson. About 11,000 of the mailings, or 4 percent of them, were addressed to the wrong county clerk and recorder, she said. The problem occurred in a couple of different locales, including a slice of the mid-Roaring Fork Valley.
Residents of the El Jebel area are assigned the Carbondale ZIP code for their mailing address, but reside in Eagle County. Carbondale, however, is in Garfield County.
“In cases where a ZIP code covered more than one county, some of them were addressed to the wrong county,” Johnson said.
The original applications went out about a month ago to El Jebel voters, addressed to be mailed to the Garfield County Clerk and Recorder. The organization recently mailed out a second flier, reading: “Oops! We made a mistake,” and explaining that the envelope supplied with the initial vote-by-mail application was incorrectly addressed. The latest mailing included a corrected ballot application.
How many Eagle County voters failed to catch the mistake and mailed back the application to the Garfield County Clerk and Recorder is difficult to say.
“I bet a lot of people probably didn’t even notice,” Johnson said.
A Colorado resident who received the mailing alerted Women’s Voices, Women Vote to the problem and the organization informed the Colorado Secretary of State and the counties involved as soon as the error was discovered, she said. County clerks assured the organization they’d forward any misdirected applications to the correct county clerk.
“I’ll tell you right now, county clerks are very good about forwarding it on, if it goes to the wrong county,” said Eagle County Clerk and Recorder Teak Simonton.
Garfield County Clerk Jean Alberico could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
The mailing went to Women’s Voices, Women Vote’s target audience — unmarried women and other women who tend to be underrepresented in the political process, according to Johnson.
Incidentally, voters who receive a ballot in the mail can either mail it back or return it in person to the proper county clerk’s office; it must be received by 7 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 4, in order to be counted.
Locally, Eagle County voters can also fill out the application in person at the Eagle County Community Center in El Jebel.
janet@aspentimes.com
