County registrar addresses ballot issues
Dubroff answered supes’ questions about errors Tuesday
STOCKTON — The top elections officials in the county explained several errors that recently occurred with a few thousand ballots during an unplanned discussion on election integrity at Tuesday’s San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors meeting.
San Joaquin County Registrar of Voters Melinda Dubroff told supervisors that the errors — which included a missing race on nearly 3,000 ballots, a missing candidate statement for a state office and voters receiving sample ballots and voter information guides after their official ballots — have all been quickly rectified.
The registrar’s explanation came days after Supervisor Tom Patti, who represents District 3 in Stockton, called for an emergency meeting to investigate the integrity of the local voting process.
Patti on Tuesday said he had received about 15 emails from residents with complaints about missing or incorrect information n their ballots.
“There’s, for me, a question of this process and how it’s being orchestrated and who’s in charge,” he said. “I don’t know how the rest of the board feels, but there’s a lack of confidence right now. I’m not in this election, I don’t have anything to gain in any capacity. I’m just reviewing right now with this board, this position we’re in. And with you at the helm, we’ve got a multitude of issues and concerns that have been brought up and discussed. Some of these are very concerning, and we’re at a point where it’s yes, they’ve got errors.”
Dubroff said the missing race and late sample ballot errors were due to San Joaquin Delta College not reporting its new by-district boundaries last year.
As a result, 2,265 voters out of the approximately 51,000 voters who live in Trustee Area 2 were originally mailed a ballot that did not contain the Trustee Area 2 contest. The error was brought to the registrar’s attention by a trustee candidate on Oct. 5.
Replacement ballots with the Area 2 race were mailed to voters on Oct. 12. Ballots without the race that were already returned to the ROV’s office will be held in abeyance until the Oct. 23 deadline to return the
replacement ballot. Post cards will be sent to affected voters who have not returned their replacement ballots as of Oct. 23.
The delay in reporting new district boundaries caused a delay in creating and finalizing official ballots, as well as a delay in mailing the sample ballot and voter information pamphlet.
The statewide change from an election with neighborhood polling places to voter service centers required the county to find suitable facilities in a short period of time, Dubroff said.
The county found 34 voter service centers and 25 official ballot drop boxes, Dubroff said. The public review period for those facilities concluded on Sept. 13, and Dubroff said three more ballot drop boxes were added after that deadline.
Counties who had moved to this new model under the Voter’s Choice Act were given over a year to transition to the all-mail ballot, ballot drop box and voter service center model, she said. San Joaquin County and other non-VCA counties were given less than three months. Because of the timeline for printing the pamphlets, it was not feasible to start the pamphlet mailing on Sept. 24.
By statute, the sample ballot and voter information pamphlets may be mailed beginning Sept. 24 but no later than Oct. 13. The county met the Oct. 13 deadline, but the mailing of the voter information pamphlets began on Oct. 6.
“I’m not happy with it, and the voters aren’t happy with it,” Dubroff said. “People this election want to vote early more than any other election I’ve seen. Already, 10% of our population have cast a ballot. People wanted to get that information about local candidates in their hands.”
While all election information, including candidates, their statements, and state and local measures, had been posted on the ROV’s website long before pamphlets and ballots were scheduled to be mailed to voters, Dubroff said many residents still want to have the information physically in their hands.
She added many residents don’t have easy access to the Internet, and some don’t have a good mailing address or their housemates forget to give them their mail.
Another perceived error brought to the county’s attention was a missing candidate statement from Carlos Villapudua, who is running for the California State Assembly District 5 seat.
Dubroff said candidates were given the opportunity to file their qualified statements between July 10 and Aug. 7, and Villapudua had not met that deadline.
According to a statement released by the county on Oct.. 20, Villapudua’s campaign contacted the ROV’s office after the deadline explaining several reasons why a statement had not been submitted. The ROV’s office told the campaign it did not have the authority to extend the deadline, the statement said.
In addition, 5,790 voters in Manteca and the county’s Fifth Supervisorial District received a sample ballot and voter information pamphlet containing a ballot in Spanish in the English section of the package. Corrected materials were sent to voters on Oct. 12.
“I’ve got major concerns,” Patti said. “I don’t know what to do to assure the public from this moment forward. We’ve addressed it, we know that there’s errors. It seems that things are, as I’m told, a little bit sloppy.”
Supervisor Bob Elliott,
who represents Tracy, said it was important the ROV’s office had its procedures in place so voters have the information they need before casting their final ballots.
“People need confidence that the elections are going to be carried out with integrity and that they can trust the results, and that it was carried out fairly to all,” Supervisor Bob Elliott said. “But in order to ensure that we instill that level of confidence in the people we need to get the voter information out early so they at least have that... so they can cast their ballots in a responsible manner.”
Dubroff said her office is very clear about the importance for the election to be impartial and transparent, which will bring about confidence and integrity during the voting process.
“Confidence in this process is so important, that people know when they cast a ballot they know it’s being counted accurately,” she said. “I absolutely agree with that. It has been discouraging where voters have expressed concerns to the point they distrust the system.”
Supervisor Chuck Winn, who represents Lodi, directed his comments toward Patti, stating he hoped when concerns were brought to any member of the board, a supervisor would discuss allegations with the county administrator or department head before calling for a public meeting.
Board chairwoman Kathy Miller said she
agreed confidence in the elections process was important, and that it was unfortunate about the allegations made against the ROV’s office. She said the vast majority of emails, rumors and false information generated about the elections official have been created by “well-known political agitators in this region” who were organizing a misinformation campaign.
She said the public should know the election will happen Nov. 3 and ballots they have cast will be counted.
“We have met the legal requirements for this election,” she said. “Has it been perfect? No. I don’t think any of us would say it’s been perfect. Will we learn lessons from this? Yes, we will, the same way we learned from the primary, and all the previous elections.”