Trump Says Mail-In Ballots Are a 'Total Mess' in New York After Reports of Printer Mailing About 100,000 Incorrect Ballots

President Donald Trump criticized mail-in voting efforts in New York City on Wednesday after reports surfaced that thousands of voters received faulty ballots.

"Wow! 100,000 Mail In Ballots in New York City a total MESS," the president said on Twitter. "Mayor and Governor have no idea what to do. Big Fraud, Unfixable!"

The New York City Board of Elections discussed the absentee ballot problem during a board meeting on Tuesday. Executive Director Michael Ryan said the board received complaints over the past few days from voters who said that there was nothing wrong with the ballots themselves but that the envelopes they received were printed incorrectly.

"From our investigation, it is a vendor error," Ryan said, adding that the printer, Rochester-based Phoenix Graphics, agreed to cover the cost of reprinting all of the faulty ballot packages so corrected ballots could be redistributed to voters. Ryan said that the problem was believed to be related to just one print run affecting voters in Brooklyn. He told Gothamist that 99,477 ballots were printed in that single run on September 17.

"It is essential that confidence be established in this process and that we make certain that all of the voters who potentially have a problem have a full and fair opportunity to remedy that problem," Ryan said on Tuesday.

Sal DeBiase, the president of Phoenix Graphics, described the printer problem as a "mechanical-inserting issue" in a statement and confirmed that the company would cover the costs of reprinting. He added that some of the faulty ballots were also sent to voters in Long Island's Nassau County.

"We estimate this has affected less than 1 percent of the mailings, of what was the first of many absentee-ballot orders for [Nassau and Kings counties]," DeBiase's statement said. "Future mailings will not be affected."

According to Newsday, about 800 voters in Nassau County also received faulty ballots as a result of the printing error. It was unclear if those 800 ballots were included in the initial 99,477 faulty ballot estimate that Ryan gave during Tuesday's board meeting. When contacted for comment, Phoenix Graphics referred Newsweek to DeBiase's statement and said it was unable to comment further.

Newsweek reached out to New York City's Board of Elections for comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.

News of the balloting problem came as mail-in voting is already underway in several U.S. states. This election year is expected to see higher than normal mail-in voting participation because of the coronavirus pandemic. While election officials throughout the country have made efforts to assure voters that mail-in voting is dependable, Trump has repeatedly questioned the practice and suggested, without evidence, that widespread mail-in voting leads to voter fraud.

He reiterated those points during the first presidential debate Tuesday night, when he encouraged his supporters to vote in person and remain vigilant at polling locations. In addition, the president tweeted on Wednesday, "Cancel Ballots and go out and VOTE, just like in past decades, when there were no problems."