Bad batch of voter guides sent to 11 Montgomery County precincts

A vendor misprinted sample ballots mailed to Montgomery County voters in 11 precincts in Poolesville, Germantown and Clarksburg, the county’s Board of Elections reported this week.

Board Chair David Naimon said voters informed his office of the problem ballots this week.

Within a batch of 40,000 voter guides, some listed the wrong polling place while others indicated the wrong party for the voter, he said. Some guides included both errors, while others included none.

The misprints affected “a voter information guide and a sample ballot — not a ballot,” Naimon said.

Residents who received the faulty guides will get correct ones in the mail in the next week. The general election is on Nov. 3.

On Election Day, Montgomery County voters must vote at a specific polling place. For most voters who vote by mail or before Election Day — when they may use any county polling site — having the wrong polling place on the sample ballot does not matter, Naimon said.

And those who saw the wrong party affiliation in a voter guide should rest assured that the Board of Elections has residents’ actual affiliations on record, he said.

Naimon said the vendor has acknowledged the error and is absorbing the cost of fixing it. He added that it is not the same vendor that was involved in the ballot fiasco during this year’s primaries, which forced the reissue of hundreds of thousands of absentee ballots.

Voters can confirm their polling place for the upcoming election by texting the word FIND to 77788 or going to www.777vote.org and following the link for “Find Your Polling Place,” or see their entire voting record (including party affiliation and polling place) by texting CHECK to 77788.

Voters may also contact the elections board at elections@montgomerycountymd.gov or 240-777-8500.