BOE warns voters against election registration scam - 19 Action News|Cleveland, OH|News, Weather, Sports

As election day draws closer, we are seeing an increased effort to get out the vote by both parties. But at the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, they say some of these efforts have gone too far. The issue centers on requests for absentee ballots. 40,000 have been received and it is thought that 300,000 will be asked for by the election.

Some of the efforts are misleading, according to Board of Elections Director Jane Platten. They are organized by third party groups trying to register people likely to vote for their candidate.  In an instance documented by 19 Action News, a group targeting minority voters and unmarried women has mailed out ballot requests to people who never lived at an address. The group has been criticized for similar practices in other states. It lists a government office-sounding High Street address in Columbus as it's return address. In reality, it is a postal box.

Platten urges voters to handle their own request for a ballot using the form on the Board's web site or the forms mailed out earlier this month by Secretary of State Jon Husted.  In no case should a voter give out a social security number or driver's license number to a third party.

Copyright 2012 WOIO. All rights reserved.