Local concerned about receiving two mail-in ballots for primary
Some voters are concerned about voter fraud, misconduct or multiple voting. Bruce Denny, a Town Crier member, contacted the paper about a specific instance that raised questions in his mind about a potential problem with duplicate vote-by-mail ballots.
Denny submitted his ballot earlier this month. Shortly after, he received both an email and text message thanking him for voting in the primary.
He was registered as a “No Party Preference” voter. After casting his vote, he decided that he wanted to vote in one of the major parties’ primary and re-registered.
However, he then received a second ballot. Confused, he contacted the Registrar of Voters (ROV) Office and asked what he should do with the second ballot.
He was told to “please destroy the second ballot.” He did, but then wondered how many other voters received multiple ballots.
Skepticism over election protections has grown. At the county board of supervisors’ meeting Feb. 6, this issue was discussed for nearly an hour. Supervisors Kevin Jeffries (1st District) and Karen Spiegel (2nd District) had submitted a proposal to enhance trust and faith in the county’s election process. But after six public speakers, both supervisors agreed to withdraw the proposal.
The possibility of a voter submitting more than one vote-by-mail ballot was specifically mentioned during the discussion of that agenda item. In the Feb. 15 issue, the Town Crier reported that ROV Art Tinoco’s response to the skeptics described how the county reviews ballots returned to the office by mail to assure that only one ballot per voters is counted.
Elizabeth Florer, public information officer for the ROV, said, “… only the first ballot received at the registrar’s office will be counted. Safeguards are in place to flag and investigate if a subsequent ballot arrives.”
The voter must sign the back of the envelope containing their vote-by-mail ballot. The signature must match the voter’s signature on record with the ROV.
If the voter does not sign the back of the envelope, ROV will send them a letter requesting them to sign a form confirming they are who the person submitting the mail-in ballot. If they do not sign and return this form, the ballot will not be counted.
Assuming the voter has signed the back of the return envelope, that also shows their name and address. Before placing the ballot in the category to be counted, the election officer will enter this information into the election management system to verify there have been no other ballots submitted by this individual, perhaps at a different voter center. If so, it will be placed in the provisional category.
No identifying information is actually on the actual ballot. This is to assure that a person’s vote always remains confidential. There is the precinct, ballot type and number on the front of the return envelopes and on the conveying letter. But these are not attached to the ballot.
According to Florer, there are several reasons why a voter might receive more than one mail-in-ballot. These could include changing party registration or visits to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).
For example, an individual might have been registered with “No Party Preference” and decided they wished to vote in either the Democratic or Republican primary on March 5. This is what Denny did.
The new registration might have triggered sending a ballot. Nevertheless, the voters are registered, and their name and address are in the ROV records. These are checked during counting to assure that only one ballot is counted from that person.
Similarly, visiting the DMV, which has an automatic voter registration process, can trigger another ballot sent to that person, if they forgot to check the box that they were already registered.
“It is important to know that it is illegal to try and cast two ballots,” Florer emphasized. If the possibility is discovered through investigation, it can be turned over to the [district attorney]’s office.”
