Town of Brookline Notified That Some Mail-In Ballots Were Distributed Incorrectly

Voters Urged to Verify They Received a Correct Ballot

BROOKLINE — Town Administrator Mel Kleckner announces that the Town of Brookline has become aware that some incorrect ballots for the upcoming state primary election were mailed to voters and is working aggressively to investigate and correct the problem.

The Town Clerk’s Office has been notified by approximately 30 voters that the mail-in ballots they received were not the party ballot they requested. The Town Clerk’s Office has subsequently mailed correct party ballots to those voters. 

After first becoming aware of the issue yesterday, the Town Clerk’s Office engaged the Elections Division of the Office of the Secretary of State to report the error and will work closely with that office to review how it occurred. Staff have already been re-trained and procedures have been modified to ensure that correct ballots are mailed out going forward. Approximately 7,000 ballots have been mailed to voters to date.

Brookline voters who requested mail-in ballots are strongly urged to check and ensure they’ve received the primary ballot for the party they requested. The party ballot requested is indicated by an “R” for Republican, “D” for Democrat, “G” for Green or “I” for Independent on the mailing label in the lower right hand corner of the envelope containing the ballot.

The ballot inside the envelope should match the indicated party affiliation. Voters may review the sample ballot for their party and precinct online here to ensure the one they’ve received is correct.

Anyone who has received an incorrect ballot should call the Town Clerk’s Office at 617-730-2010. The Town Clerk’s Office is open Monday through Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Friday from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Messages left after hours will be returned as soon as possible.

“We regret this error and are working collaboratively with the Secretary of State’s Office to understand how it happened and are committed to correcting it to ensure that every voter who wishes to vote in the upcoming state primary is able to do so,” Town Administrator Kleckner said.

The Town of Brookline will provide additional updates as they become available.

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