Officers

Chair

Jeremiah Lowery

Treasurer

Kesh Ladduwahetty

Assistant Treasurer

Chelsea Rudman

Ombudsman

Noah Van Gilder

Secretary

Elisabet Eppes

Political Director

Keith Ivey

Communications Director

Chelsea Rudman

Operations Director

Kesh Ladduwahetty

IT Director

Jeremy Koulish

October 22, 2020

Director Alice P. Miller

DC Board of Elections

1015 Half Street, SE, Suite 750

Washington, DC 20003

Dear Director Miller,

We are writing in regard to a number of election-related issues that have been reported to us recently.

We appreciate the many significant improvements that BOE has made since the primary: mailing ballots to every registered voter, using well-regarded BallotTrax software, provision of drop boxes and the use of super vote centers and additional vote centers during early voting and election day. These initiatives will significantly reduce the problems that voters will face in the general election.

Nevertheless, several problems have been reported to us.

  1. Mail-in ballots rejected by BOE: Jeremiah Lowery’s ballot was rejected by BOE. After the matter was raised by Councilmember Allen’s staff, you contacted Jeremiah and resolved the issue. But important aspects of the signature verification process remain unanswered, including why his signature was not found straight away. Jeremiah voted by mail in the June primary and it was accepted without a problem. It seems strange that a signature on file was found in June and not in October. Meanwhile, Director Miller asserted at yesterday’s webinar that no ballots were rejected. This seems strange, since Jeremiah’s ballot was rejected but subsequently cured.
  2. Mail-in ballots in extended review status: Two of our members reported that ballots have been under review for extended periods. There is no reason given for the extended review process, nor have they received notification from BOE about the reason for the review. Others have reported ballots being under extended review status via social media.
  3. Mail-in ballots that are in transit for extended periods: One of our members reported that her ballot was mailed to BOE on October 1. The tracker shows that the ballot was scanned by USPS on the inbound trip back to BOE on October 5. More than 2 weeks have elapsed since. It is not clear whether the delay is in USPS delivery or BOE processing of received ballots.
  4. Mail-in ballots received very late or not received at all: We have received multiple reports of ballots being received very late or not being received. The issues do not appear to be explained by change of address.

Specifics regarding the above issues are provided in an attachment.

We suggest you take the following steps to address these issues:

Mail-in ballots rejected or under review by BOE:

  1. BOE should provide a detailed explanation of the signature verification process on its website, including the statutory basis for signature verification and the reasons for review and rejection.
  2. BOE should provide daily statistics by ward on ballots that are received but not accepted for any reason, including those that are under review and those that are rejected. These statistics should include ballots that are rejected but subsequently cured. Statistics should be provided daily now through November 13, 2020.
  3. It is our understanding that voters with rejected ballots will be contacted by letter. In addition, BOE should contact voters whose ballots are under review. In addition to letter notification, BOE should contact voters by email, phone and text where contact information is available.
  4. Given the rejection of ballots for signature mismatches and the demands on BOE resources to conduct signature verification, BOE should consider following the example of Maryland and Virginia and eliminate signature verification altogether.

Mail-in ballots in transit for extended periods:

  1. BOE should contact voters whose ballots are inbound but not received within 10 days of scanning by USPS. Notification should be by letter, as well as email, phone and text where contact information is available. These voters should be encouraged to track their ballot and to vote in person if their ballot is not marked accepted before Election Day.

Mail-in ballots not received by voters:

  1. BOE’s communications campaign should shift to encourage voting in person during Early Voting. The message should be directed at voters who have not received mail-in ballots or whose ballots are in any status other than accepted.

Thank you.

Jeremiah Lowery

Chair, DC for Democracy

     www.dcfordemocracy.com