As political campaigns gear up to turn out supporters for the November election, potential voters should exercise caution when responding to “third-party” mailings claiming to ensure one’s registration status.
Henry County Registrar Dawn Stultz-Vaughn said her office has recently received complaints from the community about mailings which were sent to the families of deceased residents with enclosed voter applications.
“I want to make it clear that these third-party mailings are not from the Henry County Registrar’s office,” Stultz-Vaughn said. “We don’t do campaigns to sign up new voters, we just process the applications as they come in. We are not behind these mailings so voters should remain hyper-vigilant to protect themselves from potential fraud or scams.”
Stultz-Vaughn said that any mail sent from the Registrar’s office will have “Official Voting Information” marked on the envelope.
The mailings sent by outside organizations often have include voter registration applications and advice to not “miss the chance to have your voice COUNT.” Additionally, the mailings may contain politically-charged advertisements which is not the practice of local election officials.
“We remain neutral,” Stultz-Vaughn said. “If you receive mail that is critical or supportive of one political party over the other, I can assure you that it was not sent by our office. Any inserts or language like that should be a clue to the voter that the mail was sent from a third-party instead.”
Given that the mailings have been mostly targeted towards deceased family members, Stultz-Vaughn said that fraud is a concern.
“We work hard to uphold election integrity in this office and voters can remain confident that we don’t have dead people voting in our elections,” Stultz-Vaughn said. “As we continue to do our part to maintain election security, we ask that our residents also do their part by keeping an eye out for potential scams and misinformation.”
Stultz-Vaughn said those who have voted in the last eight years are typically still registered.
to check registration status or change voter information, residents are encouraged to visit https://vote.elections.virginia.gov/VoterInformation.
