Some candidates’ names left off vote-by-mail forms in Stanislaus County

More than 20,000 replacement ballots are being mailed to Republican voters in Modesto and the Oakdale area because of a printing mistake on the original mail ballots.

Officials confirmed Tuesday that the names of candidates for the Republican Central Committee races were not printed on the back of the vote-by-mail ballots. People began asking the Stanislaus County Registrar of Voters office about the problem last week.

“It makes me wonder how this election is going to go,” said Karla von Hungen of Modesto, who noticed the blank space on the back of her ballot last weekend. She said she wanted to vote for two people she knows who are running and couldn’t find their names.

About 24,000 replacement ballots were mailed early this week and should be arriving at homes Wednesday or Thursday. “Letters were sent to people who need a replacement ballot,” said Lee Lundrigan, county registrar of voters. “We need to make sure they get a correct ballot.”

Lundrigan said the mistake was made by a vendor that printed the ballots and election materials for the June 7 primary for county elections. She stressed the county will not pay for the mistake, and the vendor will bear the costs of the replacement ballots and mailing.

Some voters have marked the original ballots and already sent them in the mail. Lundrigan’s office is advising voters to use the replacement ballots, which are in a different-colored yellowish envelope.

Lundrigan hopes that people who voted with the original ballot will mark their replacement ballot and send it. Voting with a replacement will invalidate the first ballot. According to the letter sent to voters, “the vote cast on your replacement ballot will be the only ballot counted in our system.”

The Registrar of Voters office is issuing an unprecedented number of replacement ballots this spring because of the complexity of the presidential primary and the practice of sending mail ballots to voters before Monday’s voter registration deadline.

With up to 2,000 people a day registering to vote or making changes to their registration before Monday’s deadline, the county Elections Division has been issuing replacement mail ballots for people making changes to their registration.

And then officials discovered the big mistake with Republican Central Committee contests in the 1st and 4th Districts. The snafu comes after a major mistake invalidated a Modesto City Schools measure on the November ballot.

Scott Martin, president and chief executive officer of Martin & Chapman Co. of Southern California, confirmed the company was to blame for the Republican ballots. The front of the ballots were correct but not the back, he said.

“Our team that printed those six ballot types pulled a different plate that did not have the (Central Committee candidates),” Martin said. “We have printed and re-mailed the new ballots with the correct backs. We take full responsibility.”

Martin said he had not tallied up the cost of the error for his company. A crew worked 15 hours Friday and over the weekend to print the replacement ballots, so they could be mailed to local voters this week, he said.

Lundrigan said Tuesday there are no other problems with ballots for the June primary. The affected voters who marked and sent the original ballots will have their votes counted if they don’t use the replacement ballots, but Lundrigan was urging people to use the replacements.

People watching the election said the results could be contested because people have voted using faulty ballots.

“How many people are going to send in a second ballot?” von Hungen asked. “Some people are not going to get it.”

Mylinda Mason, an alternative seeking a Central Committee seat, said, “I don’t see how it’s not going to be a problem.”

The replacement ballots have the correct back, instead of a back with a blank column in the middle, and have an “R” in the upper right corner.

The affected voters can return the replacement ballots in the mail; deliver them in person to the county Elections Division at 1021 I St., Suite 101, Modesto, between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday before Election Day; or take them to a polling place Election Day.

More information is available by calling the Elections Division at 209-525-5200, or 209-525-5230 for assistance in Spanish.

This story was originally published May 24, 2016 at 8:01 PM with the headline "Some candidates’ names left off vote-by-mail forms in Stanislaus County."