diff --git a/helios/models.py b/helios/models.py
index 28f1dc6645646c52dfef0629a9773d254d7e5561..3947b64c2ca135222950e64e0552ee9264bb9d8e 100644
--- a/helios/models.py
+++ b/helios/models.py
@@ -680,7 +680,7 @@ class VoterFile(models.Model):
 
     # now we're looking straight at the content
     if self.voter_file_content:
-      voter_stream = StringIO.StringIO(self.voter_file_content)
+      voter_stream = StringIO.StringIO(self.voter_file_content.encode('utf-8'))
     else:
       voter_stream = open(self.voter_file.path, "rU")