NorCo Screws Up Third Election Since 2019

On Friday, I told you that it was very possible that the wrong Mail-in-Ballots (MIB) were being sent to voters in Easton City Council's District 2 race. The two candidates for Easton City Council are Sharbel Koorie and Julie Zando-Dennis.   But one voter told Koorie that the ballot he received was for the race in another district, where a candidate is running unopposed. Koorie called the elections office and was told that this was a one-off. An election worker just accidentally placed the wrong ballot in the envelope addressed to the voter in District 2. It was more than a one-off. 

As Julie Zando-Dennis observed yesterday on her Facebook page yesterday, at least 48 incorrect ballots have been mailed. Apparently, the elections office is calling or writing to voters to ask them to request a new MIB or is voiding the incorrect ballots. But how many voters will recognize these calls or letters as legitimate? 

There is no question that the election in Easton District 2 has been tainted. This error cannot be caught during the official canvass because the ballots themselves are separated from the envelopes once the envelopes are opened to assure voter privacy. 

This marks the third time since 2019 that NorCo has botched an election.  In 2019, the voting machine manufacturer failed to calibrate the machines. In 2023, the machines were improperly tested and elections officials failed to provide enough emergency paper ballots to voting precincts. Now the wrong MIB has been sent to voters. 

I personally think elections workers have been asked to do much. They are conducted a MIB election, a ballot-on-demand election and voting in person, They also have been tasked with opening and operating two satellite offices. They simply are being asked to do too much, and this is leading to problems. 

Unfortunately, the only remedy I see in District Two is a special election between Zando-Dennis and Koorie. Both candidates are very depressed at what has happened. But it is the voters who have been shortchanged. You have the right to an election that, as Lamont McClure says, is "legal, fair, and accurate." This is none of those things. 

Unfortunately, another race has been compromised as well. I will tell you about that in the post below.