Absentee ballot request forms are showing up in mailboxes across southern New Hampshire, leading the attorney general to issue a warning Thursday that the mailers are not coming from any official state or local agency.
The packet voters have received is complete with what appears to be a handwritten sticky note saying, “you are needed, please fill this out.”
State law requires that such mailings contain the identity of the entity mailing and distributing the form, the attorney general’s office said in a news release Thursday. While the mailers also include a return envelope with the recipient’s town or city clerk in the address block, the paperwork has not been sent by New Hampshire town or city clerks, or any state agency.
Who sent them remains a mystery, and an investigation is underway to figure that out.
“We don’t have evidence to support this being a particular group or where exactly this came from,” said Assistant New Hampshire Attorney General Nicholas Chong Yen.
Atkinson resident Jason Grosky said the absentee ballot application packet seems legitimate. The only reason he knew it wasn’t is because he’s a town selectman.
“I knew this wasn’t something we were behind, but I think any ordinary person opening this, their first reaction looking at it would be to ask, ‘Why is my town wasting tax money on this?’ And we’re not,” Grosky said.
For some residents who took to social media, the unidentified packets are raising a red flag because of the New Jersey postmark.
“I’m not saying there is anything illegal about this, but it’s undoubtedly sneaky,” Grosky said.
He can’t help but wonder if it’s an attempt to disrupt the voting process ahead of an extraordinary election.
“The more we get into the absentee ballots, the more opportunity there is for our elections to be met with some type of fraud,” Grosky said. “That’s something that’s extremely concerning for me.”
If you have any questions about voting, call your local clerk’s office or the secretary of state's office, Chong Yen said.
