diff --git a/helios/models.py b/helios/models.py
index fc283e9da3b4bc3f21c5238e36c7eb2e64d98438..551c4ae313292ad6b4e12d40bf545be9cec8e27e 100644
--- a/helios/models.py
+++ b/helios/models.py
@@ -759,7 +759,7 @@ class VoterFile(models.Model):
       voter_stream = io.BytesIO(content)
     else:
       close = True
-      voter_stream = open(self.voter_file.path, "U")
+      voter_stream = open(self.voter_file.path, "rb")
 
     #reader = unicode_csv_reader(voter_stream)
     reader = unicodecsv.reader(voter_stream, encoding='utf-8')