MARION COUNTY, Fla. – An issue with a publishing house led to some Marion County residents getting voter information cards with errors on them, according to the county supervisor of elections.
Supervisor Wesley Wilcox said he’s gotten a large number of calls from voters who received their new voter information cards and found details on the cards were wrong.
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“By the end of the day on Saturday, I received probably 70 to 80 emails saying, ‘Hey, the wrong zip code is out there,’” Wilcox told News 6.
Select voters across all political parties received cards with a zip code for Arizona on them, while others had wrong district numbers for county commission listed.
The company that published and distributed the voter information cards sent a letter to Wilcox acknowledging the issue.
“Although the proofs we provided and your team reviewed were completely accurate, at some point during the second batch some of the data being printed became distorted,” said a spokesperson with Quality Printing and Mailing. “We are currently assessing our procedures to try and understand how this happened, and which records were printed incorrectly.”
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The company and Wilcox’s office both insist that the issue is one with the printing of the cards themselves and not with the data that the county has on file.
“It’s a reputable printing company. He’s taken full responsibility for the errors that he did. He confirmed that our data is accurate. We do not have that zip code for any registered voter in Marion County,” Wilcox said.
In a statement, Wilcox said the county has used Quality Printing and Mailing since 2012 without any previous issues.
“While this is a very unfortunate situation, we understand that mistakes happen and are working with the mail house to rectify the situation,” Wilcox said.
Voter information cards are not needed in order to vote in elections; they simply provide voters with information on assigned precincts.
You can always check your voter registration information on file at the Marion County supervisor of elections website, or at the Florida Division of Elections website.
“Virtually everything we do in the election world is looked over with a fine-toothed comb, as it should be. I understand that, but unfortunately, sometimes and (in this) case, it’s just an honest mistake,” Wilcox said.
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