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Absentee ballot mailing looks official, but contains a Dem promotion; GOP cries foul

This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon: October 10, 2008 - St. Louis residents who opened what looked like a mailing from the Board of Election Commissioners probably were surprised that their application for an absentee ballot had a blatant political message on top -- Vote for Jay Nixon for governor.

The applications were mailed by the St. Louis Democratic Campaign Committee, along with a return envelope addressed to the Board of Election Commissioners at 300 N. Tucker. But the outside envelope bore the name of the St. Louis Board of Election Commissioners and its address, making it appear that the mailing was more official and less political than it really was.

In smaller type than the rest of the notice, the flyer says "PAID FOR BY THE DEMOCRATIC CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE OF ST. LOUIS CITY, JOE KEAVENY, TREASURER." It also says: "If you have already requested an absentee ballot for this election, please disregard this notice."

Republicans are crying foul and asking whether the mailing could be considered criminal; Democrats say it was all a printing mistake. They say the printer put the Election Board return address on the outside envelope.

Having absentee ballot applications mailed out by one party or the other is fine, according to Ryan Hobart, a spokesman for the elections division of the Missouri secretary of state.

"There's nothing that makes this illegal," he said. "We've seen letters from the McCain campaign that do the same thing."

What makes this mailing problematic was the appearance that it was coming from the city's Election Board, said Scott Leiendecker, Republican director of elections for the city.

"I didn't think there was an issue until I actually saw it," he said Friday morning.

"Campaigns do this all the time, sending out applications, and I don't see a problem with it. But I do see a problem when they use our address on the information they send out."

In a statement released Friday, the Election Board said:

"Although a disclaimer appears in much smaller type that the mailing was paid for by the Democratic Campaign Committee of St. Louis City, the unmistakable impression is that the absentee ballot application came from the St. Louis City Election Board and that the Election Board is endorsing Jay Nixon. Understandably, the Election Board is receiving numerous inquiries from confused and angry voters demanding to know why they received such a mailing and why the Election Board is endorsing the Democratic Party candidate for Governor.

"Voters in the City of St. Louis should be assured that this mailing did NOT come from the Election Board and the Election Board does NOT endorse any candidate for any office. Nor does the Election Board mail to any voter an unsolicited absentee ballot application. Applications are only mailed to those voters who request them."

Leiendecker said the mailings may be illegal, citing election law that says: "Any person who knowingly makes, delivers or mails a fraudulent absentee ballot application shall be guilty of a class one election offense," Leiendecker said the mailings may also be illegal.

He said copies of the mailing have been sent to the U.S. attorney's office to see if a federal offense may have been committed because the mails are involved.

But Brian Wahby, head of the city Democratic Central Party, says the whole episode is simply a printing error.

He said that because the return envelope included with the absentee ballot application was addressed to the city Election Board, the printer that handled the mailing thought the same address should be used as the return address on the outside envelope as well.

"The printer did it without anybody knowing," he said. "They are fully culpable and apologetic."

The printer acknowledges that the confusion started at the mail house. "We printed the return address of the Board of Elections on the envelope that voters received," said printer Jeromy Fritz. "The city Democratic Party did not authorize the printing of that address on the envelope. The reply envelope enclosed, which also included their address, was to be sent to the Board of Elections. There were some errors in printing and processing, and we apologize for any confusion with the Board of Elections."

Dale Singer began his career in professional journalism in 1969 by talking his way into a summer vacation replacement job at the now-defunct United Press International bureau in St. Louis; he later joined UPI full-time in 1972. Eight years later, he moved to the Post-Dispatch, where for the next 28-plus years he was a business reporter and editor, a Metro reporter specializing in education, assistant editor of the Editorial Page for 10 years and finally news editor of the newspaper's website. In September of 2008, he joined the staff of the Beacon, where he reported primarily on education. In addition to practicing journalism, Dale has been an adjunct professor at University College at Washington U. He and his wife live in west St. Louis County with their spoiled Bichon, Teddy. They have two adult daughters, who have followed them into the word business as a communications manager and a website editor, and three grandchildren. Dale reported for St. Louis Public Radio from 2013 to 2016.