PRESS RELEASE
OFFICIALS: ‘DO NOT USE PRE-FILLED ABSENTEE BALLOT REQUEST FORM’
GASTON COUNTY, N.C. – If you have received an unsolicited pre-filled Absentee Ballot Request Form in the mail, Gaston County Elections officials say “do not use it” because it is invalid and should be thrown away immediately.
If you send in this form, it will be rejected for violation of North Carolina law because it contains partially printed or pre-filled information, such as your name and address.
A third-party organization known as The Center for Voter Information (CVI), which is an advocacy group in Washington, D.C., has mailed out approximately 80,000 pre-filled forms to NC voters, and nearly 1,500 of those went to Gaston County residents. It is possible that you may receive one within the next week.
NC elections officials have informed the group of the issue, and it has stopped any additional mailings with the pre-filled voter information. However, CVI plans to send out blank absentee ballot request forms, which are valid.
If you would like to request an Absentee Ballot, voters may pick up a request form at the Gaston County Board of Elections (BOE) or call to request a form. You may also use this form to submit your request and return it to the Gaston County BOE.
For the November 3 General Election, the deadline to request an absentee ballot by mail is October 27.