A mistake by a vendor resulted in 16,000 Montgomery County voters receiving postcards from the county board of elections with potentially inaccurate information about where they should vote.

The error was worsened by a second mailing to 6,000 of those voters that may have gone to an address where they do not live, according to Steve Harsman, director of the board of education.

No one will be denied the right to vote, but they may have to cast provisional ballots if they failed to update their address from the board of elections, Harsman said. He said voters who go to the wrong precinct will be directed to the correct one by pollworkers.

Even without the mistake by the vendor, any voters who failed to update their registration with the board would legally have to vote using a provisional ballot, which is counted after officials can verify the voter’s information. It is not legal to vote in a precinct where you do not live.

The problem with the mailing occurred when the county hired Hands On Inc. of Dayton, to mail postcards to 301,000 registered active voters reminding them of their correct voting precinct,and their congressional, statehouse and school districts. The cards were needed because voting precincts have been consolidated and congressional and statehouse districts redrawn and renumbered since the last presidential election.

The voter registration list the county gave the company contained the latest addresses the board has on each voter. Hands On then improperly compared that list to the a national list of people who have submitted change of address cards to the U.S. Postal Service. Hands On then changed the addresses on the postcards and mailed them.

The company was not told to do that and should not have, said Harsman. He said the national list is not necessarily accurate and the board must get verification from a voter before their address can be changed. Also, a change in address would likely have also required new information on the postcard regarding voting precinct and districts so voters who got the cards at their new address were likely told to go to the wrong precinct.

Linda Miller, general manager of Hands On, declined comment.

All 16,000 voters have now been sent letters informing them that they need to be sure they are registered at their current address. Since the deadline for updating registrations passed on Oct. 9, any who have not updated their records will have to cast provisional ballots on Election Day, Harsman said. The original mailing cost $60,000 and the county expects the company to pick up the cost of the additional mailings, said Harsman.