CLEVELAND — In this polarizing election, there's much voter anxiety about disinformation and fraud. So when 3News viewers began receiving unsolicited absentee ballot applications in the mail that were not from the Ohio Secretary of State's office, they wondered if they were part of a scam.
Daunteley S. wrote to 3News: "Just got a letter, it appears to be from the election board about absentee ballots. I've already early voted. I called the board, and they say they didn't send it. It looked very official. Is this some kind of scam to keep my early vote from being counted?"
3News staffers also received absentee ballot applications that they never asked for, which were sent by an organization called The Center for Voter Information. The return address was a red brick office and retail building on North High Street in Columbus.
It turns out, the organization uses a Columbus mailing address, but is actually based in Washington, D.C. We caught up with the non-profit's CEO, Tom Lopach, via Zoom.
"We've been doing this work for 17 years -- literally bringing democracy to people's doorsteps," said Lopach. He said CVI has sent 7.2-million absentee ballot requests to Ohioans, and 547,000 applications have been returned to county boards of elections thus far. The third-party mailer contains a bar code that allows the group to track returned applications.
However, skeptical voters questioned the letters' legitimacy, and wondered if scammers could easily print an address on the return envelope that would divert their application to a scammer's post office box.
The Better Business Bureau advises people to avoid election-related scams by going directly to websites that you know are legitimate, like your county board of elections.
"I think because of the pandemic, and the layer of the pandemic, it lends itself to an environment that's ripe for fraud," said Susan Adams, from the Better Business Bureau.
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose confirmed that the absentee ballot application from the Center for Voter Information was legitimate, however, he urged third-party organizations, political campaigns, and political parties to work with his office to ensure the mailing of accurate forms.
But some election officials are not thrilled with CVI's efforts. Jared Dearing, the Executive Director for the Kentucky Board of Elections told our sister station, WHAS-TV in Louisville, that the unsolicited letters have caused confusion, and led to his office phone system becoming inundated by voter calls. Dearing would like the group to stop sending unsolicited mailers.
However Lopach is undeterred. "At the end of the day, if we are able to help voters vote in this complicated election cycle, and if we're able to help unregistered voters sign up and be part of our democracy for the very first time, well then it's worth it," he said.