Yolo County mails incorrect election ballots to 581 voters. Here’s the plan to fix it
Yolo County elections officials mistakenly mailed out nearly 600 ballots with an incorrect local race or measure, and they say they developed a plan to correct the error and ensure nobody votes twice.
Officials announced Friday in a news release that out of 115,260 vote-by-mail ballots sent out this week, 581 voters in 371 homes received incorrect ballots for the Nov. 3 election. The incorrect ballots were sent to voters in Davis, West Sacramento, Woodland and Winters.
“This error occurred due to a transitioning of data systems, where not all streets were correctly carried over into the appropriate precinct as expected,” according to the news release from the county elections office. A list of the main areas where incorrect ballots were sent is available online in the news release.
Within hours of confirming the error, elections officials determined who received the incorrect ballots and began implementing the plan to correct the mistake. All voters who received an incorrect ballot will receive an expedited, newly issued precinct ballot and a voter information guide, along with a letter describing the error, officials said.
“We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused and are working diligently to resolve this issue,” Jesse Salinas, the county’s assessor, clerk-recorder and registrar of voters, said in the news release.
Any voter with an incorrect ballot and who is contacted by the elections office should discard the incorrect ballot and fill out and return the new one, according to the news release.
If a voter already filled out and mailed an incorrect ballot, elections officials said they we will cancel that ballot once the new ballot is received. They say this will ensure no voter is able to vote twice.
Officials said 90% of the voters who received an incorrect ballot in Davis live in the Covell Commons Condos and the 8th and Wake Apartment complex. They said efforts were underway to directly contact the management at those properties.
San Joaquin County elections officials mistakenly mailed incorrect ballots that left out a race for San Joaquin Delta Community College District Trustee Area 2. ABC 10 reported that county is mailing replacement ballots that include the college district trustees race.
Any voters with a question about their ballot or who believes they received something in error can call the Yolo County Elections Office at 530-666-8133.
