Roughly 200 mail-in ballot applications that have been received by Warren County are in limbo.

The specific mail-in applications are being provided to voters by some third-party entity.

The applications are coming to voters with their name and address already printed on the application. The voter, then, finishes the form and sends it to the county.

But there is a spot on the application for the signature of someone who assisted another complete the application.

And whatever entity is sending the applications is leaving those blank.

So the forms are technically incomplete.

County Elections Director Lisa Rivett said the state hasn’t yet decided whether to accept the applications, many of which she explained are from voters who had already requested a mail-in ballot for the primary and will receive their fall ballot in the mail automatically.

“The Department of State is concerned that these people are going to become a ‘hit list,'” Rivett told the commissioners, meaning that whoever is sending the applications knows who they are sending to and “could try to get a ballot thrown out because the application is not completed correctly.

There was discussion that the applications might be coming from a non-partisan voter advocacy group and Rivett noted that there would be no issue if the applications were blank. It’s the partial completion that’s the problem.