What happened?
The Fresno County Registrar of Voters office put the county’s voter registration list through routine maintenance in September, but the process incorrectly placed some voters in precincts that do not correspond to their home addresses.
Fresno County officials sent 295 voters incorrect ballots for last month’s presidential election, but officials have said that the error did not affect the outcome of any race.
The Fresno County Registrar of Voters office put the county’s voter registration list through routine maintenance in September, but the process incorrectly placed some voters in precincts that do not correspond to their home addresses, according to a Monday news release.
The mistake impacted 143 addresses, which led to 295 voters receiving incorrect ballots. There are 511,349 registered voters in Fresno County, according to the Fresno County Elections Office.
A small number of Fresno County races were very close. Only 93 votes separated Claudia Cázares from Dan Bordona in the school board race to represent Fresno Unified’s Hoover High region. Additionally, there’s a tie in a board race and recount underway for the Laguna Irrigation District located in Riverdale.
However, Fresno County Clerk/Registrar of Voters James Kus told Fresnoland that none of the outcomes in any race were impacted by the precinct mix-up.
“The ballots affected by this issue are spread across Fresno County and there is no concentration of these ballots in any one race sufficient to affect the outcome of any contest in Fresno County,” Kus said over email.
While the county knows which addresses were impacted by the precinct mix-up, Kus added they have no way of fixing the matter due to voter secrecy protections built into California’s constitution.
“There is no means to identify an individual’s ballot nor link their choices back to the individual,” Kus said. “For that reason, there can be no corrective action taken regarding these ballots for this election.”
Kus added that once his office conducted an investigation into the extent of the matter, it’s important to be transparent with any details that can be shared with the public.
“The Department is committed to an open and transparent election process,” Kus said. “That includes being forthcoming when we make a mistake, not just when we are highlighting our successes.”
