Inaccurate general election ballots sent to Merced County voters. What happens now?
Merced County officials are launching a review to uncover the nature and scope of errors included in election ballots mailed to local voters this week.
A Merced County statement sent to the Sun-Star confirmed the Board of Supervisors, county executive staff and elections department personnel are aware of issues existing with some mailed ballots.
The statement said the county is working to mitigate the problems.
“Mapping issues associated with the redistricting process have resulted in some ballots containing incorrect local races,” the statement said.
“County staff is currently assessing the scope of the issue, and will work quickly to put an action plan together to remedy the situation. Merced County is committed to safeguarding the integrity of its elections and will work diligently to resolve the issues identified.”
Corrected ballots will be sent out to impacted voters as soon as the review is complete, county spokesman Mike North said.
The ballot issues appear to primarily impact City of Merced, but a preliminary review also showed errors in some Gustine and Los Banos precincts. The internal review is examining precincts county-wide for problems, North said.
The county identified additional errors concerning Los Banos precincts last week. Some ballots were issued without the Los Banos Unified School District Area 7 contest listed. The election materials have been corrected and replacement ballots were mailed Oct. 10.
Merced residents report ballot errors
As election materials sent by the Merced County Elections Department were received, City of Merced residents on Wednesday began reporting missing or extraneous candidates on their ballots.
“If there’s a mistake, it needs to be fixed,” Merced Mayor Matt Serratto said. “Our elections are sacred in this country and they need to be handled at the highest level.”
The mayor urged voters to be vigilant in checking their mail for any corrected election materials or notices.
Serratto affirmed that the ballot errors appeared strictly accidental and don’t seem to benefit any specific party or candidate. “I think it affects all the candidates equally, and I think all of them to their credit have been united in the fact that they want this fixed and they want an even playing field,” he said.
Still, Serratto expressed frustration over how the mistake could impact votes and incite confusion.
Merced City Manager Stephanie Dietz confirmed the City Clerk’s Office began receiving calls Wednesday morning from residents living in multiple districts across the city, alerting staff that who their ballots were inaccurate. The city referred residents to the County Registrar of Voter’s.
Merced residents told the Sun-Star that the errors seem to stem from outdated district boundaries — which were revised earlier this year during the nation-wide redistricting process — being applied to the upcoming general election.
Some voters reported their ballots contained candidates outside of their district or were missing candidates running within their district.
Dietz was unable to speak to the source of the ballot errors, but confirmed that the city sent its new district map to the County Elections Department earlier this year and received confirmation in April that the new boundaries were accepted.
As of Wednesday night, the city hadn’t been informed by the Elections Department of the issues source, magnitude or next steps Dietz said.
Merced City Council member Fernando Echevarria, who is seeking reelection this year, said he was disheartened to learn of the ballot mistakes but not surprised.
While completing the steps to become an official candidate earlier this year, Echevarria said he noticed several errors that appeared to stem from outdated district boundaries being used for the Nov. 8 election. Attempts to alert County Elections Department officials to the potential problem was unsuccessful, he said.
Local candidate statements also failed to be sent to voters, Echevarria told the Sun-Star. He called the number of errors “unacceptable.”
Echevarria said he is concerned over the impacts of voters receiving inaccurate ballots less than a month away from the Nov. 8 election, and how it could impact election participation or results. The City Council candidate said he’s worried voters will become frustrated or confused, thus deterring participation in the election.
“I don’t like how it’s transpired, and I don’t like what I have to face as a candidate, and especially what the voters have to deal with,” Echevarria said. “We’re at a critical time frame. What it’s going to do is discourage voters from getting out there.”
The Merced County Elections Department can be reached at (209) 385-7541. Voters can check their district by using the Merced County district mapping tool.
This story was originally published October 12, 2022 at 7:16 PM.
