Monterey County Elections: Mail-in ballots are safe way to vote
SALINAS, Calif. (KION) The Monterey County Elections Department is prepping to send thousands of mail-in ballots to registered voters for the upcoming Nov. 3 election.
This comes amid claims by President Donald Trump, most recently during the first presidential debate between him and Democratic nominee Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday, that 30 and 40 percent of mail-in ballots are getting lost.
"They're losing 30 and 40 percent. It's a fraud. It's a fraud and it's a shame," said President Trump during the debate.
Election officials in Monterey County tell KION mail-in voting has been around for decades across the state. The only difference this time around is every registered voter gets a ballot by mail this upcoming election because of COVID-19.
With the use of statewide mail-in absentee ballot voting taking center stage, elections staff in Monterey County are prepping for what is already one of the most anticipated outcomes in a presidential contest.
In Monterey County, a whopping 80 percent of registered voters use this method.
"So this is something we are completely prepared to handle additional vote by mail ballots that are sent to us by our poll place voters," said Gina Martinez, the assistant registrar of voters for Monterey County Elections.
When mail-in ballots reach the department for processing, there is an audit system that reviews every single ballot coming in to make sure there is actually a ballot inside, it belongs to the right voter and the signature on the envelope is verified to make sure it compares to the signature in the voter file.
That ensures no one can vote twice, or three of four times, for the same voter identity.
"So that's something that's not used at a polling place. Vote by mail ballots… we verify each signature on the envelope to make sure that it matches a voter
record," said Martinez. "That's an incredible safeguard. And then also we update that voter record so we can't accept an additional ballot for a voter."
Election officials also say there have been no cases of mail-in ballots getting lost or tossed out at all locally. But some voters in Salinas, are still skeptical about the process.
"Who knows what happens after you mail your vote, you know? There's no transparency. They can tell us they count the ballots, but we don't know that," said Ricardo Ramirez, a Salinas resident.
Monterey County Elections, however, assures voters they do everything they can to be transparent. They allow voters to come into headquarters and watch ballots being counted on election nights. Voters can even sign up to track their ballot.
"Our sworn duty is to count those ballots. So we are going to process those ballots and we are going to count them and preserve the integrity of the ballot," said Martinez.
Registered voters in Monterey County can expect to see mail-in ballots in their mailboxes as soon as Thursday, but definitely the end of this week.
Monterey County Elections says voters can call the office at 831-796-1499 and talk to staff about any questions or concerns they may have. They also encourage people to follow them on social media as they give accurate information.
"It's things the voters can do for themselves to really fact check what's happening in this office," said Martinez.
Voters can also sign up to track their ballot at wheresmyballot.sos.ca.gov to receive real time notifications as to when their ballot is coming to them, when it's received by the elections office and when it is counted or if it isn't counted.
Monterey County Elections will work with the voter to reconcile any issues if the vote isn't counted for some reason.
Voters who wish to vote at a polling place in Monterey County must bring their mail-in ballot to the polling place to surrender it to staff.
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This comes amid claims by President Donald Trump, especially during the first presidential debate between him and Democratic nominee Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday, that 30 and 40 percent of mail-in ballots are getting lost.
"They're losing 30 and 40 percent. It's a fraud. It's a fraud and it's a shame," said President Trump during the debate.
CBS News has conducted a first presidential debate fact check. In the article, writer Kristin Brown explains: "(President Trump) may be alluding to the recent ballot problems in Paterson, New Jersey, where election officials ended up throwing out 19% of submitted ballots. However, that was the percentage of ballots that were deemed invalid, not the percentage lost in the mail.
Several states have previously — even recently — reported problems with incorrect or incomplete ballots, but there seems to be no evidence of any state ever reporting that 30 to 40% of ballots being 'lost.'"
KION's Josh Kristianto will be speaking to Monterey County Elections officials about how safe and reliable the mail-in voting system is locally and if these ballots could be subject to being lost.
