Correct ballots arriving for voters
53,000 in Mendocino County affected
About 53,000 newly printed ballots for the March 5 primary are hitting Mendocino County voters' mailboxes this week, as county election officials scramble to correct a snafu that is being blamed on simple human error at the last step of a ballot mailing process managed by an outside vendor.
The corrected ballots have been sent to every single registered voter in the county, and they include a bright yellow flier titled “Please Read,” said County Clerk Recorder Assessor Katrina Bartolomei. If registered voters have not received the corrected ballot, they should call the Elections Office at 707-2346819, Bartolomei said.
“Sure, there are questions that still need to be answered but we have the ballot problem corrected, and county voters can be assured the corrected ballots they are receiving are the ones to be used,” Bartolomei said.
She said in her 19 years working for the county she has never experienced “something like this.”
The county Elections Office and the Secretary of State are investigating what happened, but Bartolomei said the first priority was getting corrected ballots to voters at a state-approved vendor's expense.
Mendocino County used Integrated Voting Systems of Dinuba in Fresno County for 15 years without problems. Two years ago, the county switched to a different vendor for a short time and then returned to using Integrated Voting last fall.
“We looked at other vendors and attempted to contact a few without success. We returned to Integrated Voting because we felt it was more responsive,” said Bartolomei.
The company in recent years has had ballot printing problems in Colorado and Utah, according to a research of online news organizations. Last October, the Board of Supervisors in Fresno County decided not to extend a contract with the Dinuba-based firm because of its “spotty record.”
Bartolomei said she was aware of the issues surrounding Integrated Voting, but she said Mendocino's experience until now has always been positive. She noted every county in the state contracts out for the services, and that Integrated Voting is one of 12 vendors approved by the Secretary of State Office for ballot printing.
“There are strict regulations about which companies can perform these services and the Secretary of State must approve a company before a county uses its services,” said Bartolomei.
At this point Bartolomei said what is known is that the company used a third-party vendor to assist in the Mendocino ballot printing, and that vendor sent an incorrect data file for printing and mailing. Bartolomei said the third-party vendor was selected and hired without any county involvement.
“We don't have any control over subcontractors,” said Bartolomei.
Integrated Voting executives said the correct ballots were reprinted and mailed at the company's expense, and not the county.
Bartolomei provided a fact sheet outlining how the county will ensure that no one is able to vote more than once.
“When Elections Office receives a ballot the privacy label is removed, the address scanned and the file is uploaded into the elections management system. If a challenge code comes up in the elections management system, the ballot is put aside for the elections official to review.
“Additionally, Elections Office staff check the signature on each ballot envelope by hand. If there is a discrepancy in the signature it is challenged in the elections management system and brought to the election official for signature verification. If the elections official verifies the signature, the challenge is removed, and the ballot is filed by precinct to be opened and counted. If the signature does not match, the Elections Office contacts the voter to re-sign and/or complete a new registration form (a person's signature may change over time).
“If a voter sends in one ballot and then sends in a second ballot, the system will recognize that the person has already voted and challenge the second ballot. Elections staff will research to verify the reasons for any subsequent ballot. If the reason is a result of the mailing of incorrect ballots, the incorrect ballot will be voided.”