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Florida Elections Supervisors Warn Of Confusing Mailer Urging Voter Registration

mailbox
Joshua Blount via Flickr

Northeast Florida residents are getting confused by a flier that’s showing up in their mailboxes. 

The mailer from a national, Democratic-leaning group encourages people to register to vote. But county election supervisors say recipients aren’t always eligible voters. 

The mailer is from a group called the Voter Participation Center. In its effort to get underrepresented people to vote, it sent out thousands of registration reminders in swing states including Florida. 

But Clay County Elections Supervisor Chris Chambless says mailers are ending up at outdated addresses, some are addressed to people who are too young to vote, and “sometimes it’s even sent to deceased individuals.” 

Chambless is president-elect of the Florida State Association ofSupervisors ofElections. He says they’re all a bit annoyed at what he assumes is a group’s using an outdated database. 

“I am all about third parties’ being a part of the team to fight voter apathy and get people engaged in the process,” he says. “The issue is with the accuracy of the data.” 

Supervisors encourage people to contact their offices if they have questions about their voter-registration status.

Photo credit: "Our house" by Joshua Blount used under Creative Commons license 

Jessica Palombo supervises local news gathering and production, podcasts and web editorial content for WJCT News, ADAPT and Jacksonville Today. She is an award-winning writer and journalist with bylines including NPR, Experience Magazine, and The Gainesville Sun. She has a master’s degree in broadcast and digital journalism from Syracuse University and is an alumna of the University of Florida. A nearly lifelong resident of Jacksonville, she considers herself lucky to be raising her own children in her hometown. Follow Jessica Palombo on Twitter: @JaxJessicaP