A California county recently found around 600 uncounted mail-in ballots from a special election held in November for redistricting. The Humboldt County elections office staff discovered these sealed ballots in locked drop boxes—curiously, about five months after the election was officially certified. A statement regarding the situation was released on Wednesday.
After the find, officials confirmed that the locked box had not been tampered with and collaborated with the California Secretary of State to make sure proper protocols were observed, according to the statement. Both offices noted that the 596 ballots would not alter the election’s outcome, but they’re now considering how to count these votes.
The statement indicated that the ballots were missed due to a communication error among the election workers responsible for checking the drop boxes. To prevent this from happening in the future, the county intends to implement a “lockout, tagout” strategy to ensure each box is secure and empty before finalizing results.
Juan Pablo Cervantes, Humboldt County Clerk and Registrar of Voters, acknowledged that while this mistake stemmed from improper procedures, he ultimately takes responsibility. He pointed out that stronger controls are now in place and that they’ve already adjusted their protocols to prevent future issues. He expressed that voters’ trust had been compromised but reassured that transparency and enhanced checks would be prioritized going forward.
Updates on how the county plans to count the newly found ballots will be made available soon. This special election revolves around Proposition 50, which entails redrawing California’s congressional districts to potentially increase the Democratic representation in Congress after the upcoming 2026 midterms.
Prop. 50 was partly motivated by a similar initiative in Texas and has prompted multiple other special elections and Supreme Court hearings as various states push for redistricting before November. Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, who is also a Republican candidate for governor, has raised concerns about the security of mail-in voting, citing worries about possible fraud, mistakes, and manipulation. He advocates for measures like voter ID and in-person voting to bolster election integrity.
Interestingly, Bianco mentioned a significant discrepancy of 45,000 votes, which led California’s Attorney General Rob Bonta to file an emergency writ to halt the counting of additional ballots. In Humboldt County specifically, a total of 135,418 votes were counted, with 64.0% supporting Prop. 50. The newly found 596 votes wouldn’t change the county’s results, nor would they affect the state result, which concluded with more than 3 million votes—a 64.4% majority in favor, according to reported data.
The prior presidential election in 2024 showed a similar trend, with former Vice President Kamala Harris taking 62% of votes in Humboldt County. Bianco remarked that dismissing the impact of the new ballots could disenfranchise many Californians, urging that everyone needs to contribute to maintaining the integrity of the electoral process.
Currently, the California Secretary of State has not provided any comments on the situation.
