The regular delivery of absentee ballots faced a problem in Johnston County, as officials are contacting 338 voters who, due to a clerical error, will receive two absentee ballot packets. This issue comes from duplicate mailing labels. In an age where election integrity is often questioned, the chance of casting two votes may raise concerns, but the system is designed to ensure that only one ballot per voter is counted. Built-in security features help prevent double voting, as stated by the Johnston County.

As reported by the Johnston County Board of Elections,  once this error was discovered, they quickly advised affected voters to destroy one of the duplicate packets. This proactive approach helps prevent any potential confusion and serves as a simple solution to an issue that could have caused problems.

"This was an unfortunate mistake, but we identified it and are immediately notifying the affected voters," said Leigh Anne Price, Johnston County elections director, in a statement to reinforce the steadfast nature of the voting system's safeguards. According to Johnston County's official announcement, the barcodes on the absentee ballot envelopes are tailored to the individual, enabling the state’s election management system to detect and reject any second ballots that arrive.

Manually reviewing over 3,000 mailing labels, the Johnston County Board of Elections identified the total number of voters who received duplicate packets by mistake. Election officials have addressed this issue internally and reached out to the State Board of Elections to communicate the incident openly—all in an effort to maintain transparency and order in a process essential to democracy.

For those seeking more information or reassurance about this incident and the measures being taken, guidance is available on the Board of Elections website. Here, voters and others can find updates and details on how Johnston County is addressing the situation, ensuring that every vote counts—once, as intended.