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By Jenna Oden

Absentee ballots recently mailed out to Troup County residents by the Georgia Secretary of State office had an incorrect return address.

The return address on the return envelope included in the mailed application incorrectly listed the county’s address as 1705 Ridley Avenue. 

“The post office is still delivering every one of them to us,” said Board of Elections Supervisor Andrew Harper. “We have got several thousand already.”

This mistake was not conducted by Troup County, as the applications were printed and mailed directly from Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.

“We, along with the Secretary of State’s Office, are making every effort possible to ensure proper delivery of mailed applications, and I feel confident that this issue will be resolved and will not occur again,” said Chairman of Elections and Registration William Tatum. “Our local representatives at the USPS have assured us that any mail sent to the Troup County Elections and Registration Office would be delivered regardless of the printed street address line.”

Harper said that if anyone has concerns about their ballot and vote not being counted to call the registrar office at (706) 883-1745.

“We have been in contact with the state,” Harper said.

“They contacted the post office through the Atlanta Office, and they got it down at our local office and started getting them in the mailbox on Saturday morning. We have been getting them in steady since.”

Voters that do not want to utilize mail-in services can also return completed applications to the Troup County Elections and Registration Office via fax at (706) 883-1692, via email at elections@troupco.org, and in-person at the drop-box service located at the entrance of the Troup County Government Center.

Voters may also still vote in person, but the state and county recommend utilizing the mail-in ballots to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

“This was an unfortunate mistake by the Secretary of State’s office,” said Troup County Board of Commissioners Chairman of the Patrick Crews. “We have had extensive conversations with the United States Postal Service (USPS), and they have assured us that all incoming applications will be routed to the appropriate mailbox. In fact, we have already received and processed several. At this time, I don’t believe that there is a better way for us to handle this situation, as we do not want to confuse voters any further.”

The upcoming primary election has been postponed from May 19 to June 9. However, Troup County will still have three weeks of in-person early voting as well as in-person voting on Election Day at all current precincts.

To view the list of current precincts, visit the Troup County Elections and Registration online at troupcountyga.gov/Services/Elections.

“We are processing votes as quickly as we can,” Harper said. “But people be rest assured that the votes will and are getting delivered to us.”