New Voting System Leads to Improved Strong Voter Turnout

MADERA -  The Madera County Elections Department is continuing to process ballots and is calling the midterm turnout an overwhelming success. With just over 1,500 ballots remaining to be counted, Madera County turnout is already at 65%, over 13% higher than the last midterm election in 2014. 

According to data provided on the Registrar’s website, 65% turnout will make this midterm turnout higher than any midterm in the last 20 years, as far back as online records go. “My hope has always been to increase turnout,” explained Madera County Registrar Rebecca Martinez.  “Implementing the Voter’s Choice Act and making the voting process more convenient, more accessible, and more efficient has proven to yield the results we were hoping for. All Madera County voters should be proud; I know that I am proud of them!”

Madera County did discover a mistake was made by the County’s contracted ballot printer.  Approximately 400 voters in the Madera area were sent ballots that included an extra local contest.  In other words certain races were included on voter ballots where the voter did not live in the area for that particular race.

After receiving a call from a concerned voter the Friday before Election Day, the Elections Department immediately notified the ballot printer and officials began looking into the issue. The contracted ballot printer, ProVote Solutions of Porterville, CA confirmed that they were able to identify both the mistake and the remedy to prevent it from happening again.

 “Voters who voted at a Vote Center received the correct ballot,” explained Stephanie Sibley, the Elections Division Manager.  “We were able to isolate most of the returned vote by mail ballots and correct the error.  Approximately 183 incorrect ballots were counted.”

The Elections Department conducted extensive research while carefully maintaining the integrity of the process and was able to determine the complete number of ballots affected.  Once the research was complete they began notifying affected candidates.  In all but one contest the issue did not impact the outcome of the election based on the election results so far. 

Of those 183 counted incorrect ballots, 85 of them were in the Madera Unified School District Trustee Area 5 race between Lucy Salazar and Steve Duncan. On election night that race was within one percent but since that night has the difference has expanded to Mrs. Salazar being ahead as on Friday November 15^th, 67 votes.

While Ms. Martinez has not stated what will happen if the final vote for MUSD Area 5 is less than the 85 incorrect ballots, in Bass Lake a few years ago when the school district did not provide accurate maps to the Madera County Registrar, Martinez did not certify the elections and the affected races had a do-over; “Election Day Part 2”.

“The team has done a magnificent job from the very beginning,” stated Martinez.  “Our cadre of Vote Center workers, the team at my office, County employees and the support we received from our vote center hosts was simply remarkable.”

The results are posted on the Elections website at www.votemadera.com.

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MUSD AREA 5 RACE UNDECIDED BECAUSE OF PRINTER ERROR
No Results Are Final Until the Election Has Been Certifiied by the County Clerk