Merced candidate says registrar flubbed his statement and needs to do more to fix it
The Merced County Registrar of Voters Office left out a candidate’s statement from the guide supplied to voters, which the candidate says leaves him at a disadvantage.
Voter guides for the Nov. 3 election began showing up at the home of voters in Merced City Council District 1 on Thursday, according to the Registrar’s Office.
The candidates’ statements page included a box with the statement from candidate Jesse Ornelas but mistakenly left off the statement from candidate Joel Knox, according to Registrar Barbara Levey. A third candidate, Louis Smith, did not pay the race’s $500 fee to include a statement.
Levey said she talked to Knox’s campaign manager on Thursday and agreed to send out a new page including Knox’s statement along with Ornelas’ and information for voters who may want to change their votes.
“I was under the impression that they were satisfied,” she said on Monday. “(Knox’s campaign manager) said it was very gracious and seemed fined with that.”
In a statement, Knox said he thought the registrar was going to issue his statement alone.
“The omission of my statement in the voter guide booklet denied voters complete information,” Knox said on Monday.
“Initially, I was under the impression the county was going to send a letter to the voters in the district with only my statement, and apologize for their error,” he said. “That did not happen.”
Knox, a retired teacher, said he talked to voters while going door-to-door who said they had not voted for him because he appeared not to have issued a candidate statement.
Levey said she included both statements in the follow-up letter to avoid the appearance that she was endorsing one of the candidates in District 1. The mailer to District 1 included information on how to cast a new ballot.
Levey said she issued a news release to media, which is also on the registrar’s website.
Ornelas said the mistake was unfortunate. The program manager for The Youth Leadership Institute said he hopes the registrar can avoid mistakes in the future.
“In my experience with the elections office, I feel like they were understaffed and at capacity,” he said. “I could totally see how that could happen.”
“That’s very unfortunate that all happened to Joel Knox. I feel for him.”
Anyone who wants a re-do on a ballot can call 209-385-7541 and request a new ballot. Initiating the process will void the first ballot and only the second will be counted, according to Levey.
This story was originally published October 12, 2020 at 3:09 PM.
