Senator Jeff Howe Sends Letter to Secretary of State Requesting Clarification of Polling Place Postcards

(KNSI) — Rockville area Senator Jeff Howe sent a letter to the Secretary of State over concerns regarding polling place mailers sent out to voters ahead of the August 9th primary.

Voters who live in mail-only precincts say they received postcards with an address for a polling place, but once they arrived, they found the location closed and inaccessible. According to a statement from Howe, “The address on the mailer should have only included the county office as a polling location, as that is where the constituents from mail-in districts would have to go to vote in-person on election day. A few of the constituents drove to the listed polling location, only to be met with a sign pointing them in the direction of the county office. Many constituents ran into that sign after work and could not make it to the county office in time before polls closed, therefore losing their opportunity to vote.”

Residents voiced their concerns to Senator Howe, saying the in-person voting locations they were given were closed and not accessible for voting, and they couldn’t participate in the election due to the confusion.

Howe is upset that voters were denied their right to cast a ballot, saying it was ” unacceptable ” postcards from the Secretary of State’s office “impeded the ability of constituents looking to exercise this freedom. There is no excuse for this oversight, and we must find a solution.”

Read Senator Howe’s letter here.

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