Harrisonburg City Electoral Board meeting — Director of Elections Mark Vink told the board Oct. 6 the office currently estimates about $11,000 in spending on officers for early voting in the upcoming election.

Vink said the estimate covers officers for early voting but "that's not gonna include any other expenses at this point" because not all costs have been finalized. The figure, he added, is "around what we had budgeted and estimated when we sent to city council for this election."

The estimate matters because the office is still processing applications and mailing ballots ahead of Election Day. Vink provided September statistics: the office processed 549 voter registrations that month, mailed 849 absentee ballots and had 205 ballots returned in person. He said the number of returned ballots has increased since the September snapshot.

Vink also described how the office treats absentee ballots marked "undeliverable" by the U.S. Postal Service. "So for a returned undeliverable ballot, depending on what the yellow label says when it comes back ... typically, no matter what the label says, they're gonna be put on confirmation mailing," he said. That confirmation process can lead to a voter being moved to inactive status next year if the mailings are not confirmed, Vink said.

On forwarding, Vink was explicit: "ballots cannot be forwarded." He said a temporary move with a forwarding order to the post office will still cause the ballot to be returned to the elections office; voters who want a ballot sent to a temporary address must instead file a separate temporary-address form (identified in the meeting as form 7031c).

Vink cautioned that an undeliverable return does not necessarily mean a voter is gone: forwarding, temporary moves or other mail issues can produce an undeliverable label. He said the office receives a small number of undeliverable ballots each election (he estimated "around 6 or 7" in the batch referenced), and that the office will continue mailing ballots every two or three days as applications arrive up to the statutory deadline.

The office will continue to refine the final early-voting cost total as more expenses are completed and invoices processed.