Fresno Co. election officials knew about scope of ballot blunder before certifying the election

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- An mistake astatine the Fresno County Elections Office is present raising questions arsenic officials uncover the afloat scope of a ballot blunder, thing they accidental mightiness not person been known for months without Action News asking for answers.

"We person identified 295 voters crossed the region of Fresno that did extremity up receiving an incorrect ballot for this election," Fresno County Clerk and Registrar of Voters James Kus told Action News.

The acknowledgment comes aft weeks of interior probe archetypal spurred by Action News.

"I didn't person the accidental to ballot for the idiosyncratic that I should've voted for," elector Rick Steitz said. "I was disenfranchised. I was fixed the incorrect ballot."

Steitz received a ballot for Fresno City Council District 6 adjacent though helium lived successful District 2. He says helium called the elections bureau connected November 6 but ne'er heard back, truthful helium called Action News connected November 18.

Action News went consecutive to Kus, who confirmed wrong hours that an mistake impacted 11 voters. The fig has since grown to 295.

"295 is excessively many, but it isn't a ample fig compared to the 300,000 votes that were formed successful Fresno County," Kus said. "It makes maine a small disappointed due to the fact that this was a process we did to amended the predetermination arsenic a whole."

Kus says quality mistake is to blasted aft a regular cheque of addresses began successful September. Officials correctly updated astir 1,000 addresses but inadvertently assigned 295 voters to the incorrect precinct.

The region probe has taken weeks, and the last results travel aft Kus certified the predetermination past Tuesday. It is present excessively precocious to spell back.

"What did you cognize connected Tuesday astir the scope of this? Did it inactive basal astatine 11 past Tuesday?" Action News asked.

"No, past Tuesday, we were alert that we were astatine 295," Kus said. "What we didn't cognize past is what was going to beryllium the last results."

"But wherefore determination to certify an predetermination erstwhile you knew it was 295 people, and wherefore not archer the nationalist it was 295 radical past week erstwhile you knew?" Action News pressed.

"(These) 295 voters does not impact immoderate azygous contention successful Fresno County," Kus said.

41 voters formed incorrect ballots successful Area 6 of the Fresno Unified School District, 11 formed the incorrect ballots successful District 6 for Fresno City Council, and officials allowed 1 elector to formed a ballot successful the 13th Congressional District.

The incorrect ballots bash not alteration the result of immoderate race. However, the mistake comes arsenic respective section races are razor-thin, including the legislature contention wherever Democrat Adam Gray won by conscionable 187 ballots.

There was besides a necktie successful Fresno County for the archetypal clip successful 27 years successful a section irrigation district.

"It wouldn't person made immoderate difference, but still, my quality to formed my ballot has been fundamentally taken distant from me," Steitz said.

With quality mistake astatine the halfway of the issue, Kus says his section is present looking astatine retraining and re-assigning the unit members involved. He is besides vowing that aboriginal code updates volition not hap truthful adjacent to the election.

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