GOP lawmaker sends voters incorrect absentee ballot info

The re-election campaign for Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) acknowledged this week that it sent a mailer to voters with erroneous information regarding the deadline for absentee ballots. 

“The right to vote is one of the most fundamental rights guaranteed to us,” the mailer said, according to Newsday. “It protects our democracy, by making officials accountable to the people. I urge you to exercise that right, by completing your requested absentee ballot and postmarking it by Nov. 6.”

{mosads}The actual deadline for absentee ballots for voters in the district is Nov. 5, a day before Election Day. 

Zeldin’s campaign said in a statement to The Hill that the date on the mailer was an error and that it was caused by a mistake from its printer, PDQ Print and Mail.

“We absolutely want everyone to be completely aware that the date to postmark absentee ballots is November 5,” Zeldin campaign spokesman Chris Boyle said in the statement.

The campaign also provided a statement from PDQ Print and Mail owner Scott Nordin regarding the error. Nordin said in the statement that the campaign had approved the mailer with the correct Nov. 5 date, but that the “the wrong file was printed.”

Nordin added that a new mailer with correct information regarding absentee ballots has since been sent. 

The campaign for Zeldin’s Democratic opponent, Perry Gershon, has accused Zeldin of targeting likely Democratic voters, such as college students, with the incorrect mailer.

“It’s a baldfaced attempt at voter suppression in Democratic areas of Suffolk County,” Tim Minton, Gershon’s communications director, said to Newsday.

Boyle contended that most of the mailers were sent to non-Democratic voters. He also said the campaign’s emails, Facebook ads and website landing page have referred to the correct absentee ballot deadline.

Newsday notes that Zeldin, who represents New York’s 1st Congressional District, also listed the wrong deadline for postmarking an absentee ballot in 2016. 

The news regarding Zeldin’s campaign’s mistake comes less than a week after the Missouri GOP acknowledged that it had sent 10,000 likely Republican voters incorrect information about due dates for absentee ballots.

— Updated 2:45 p.m.