Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Elections topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Multiple speakers urge clarity on surrendering vote-by-mail ballots after Secretary of State memo
Summary
Several members of the public used the Board’s public presentations period to summarize a Secretary of State memorandum and ask the county to ensure poll workers and vote centers follow Elections Code requirements for surrendering vote-by-mail ballots and issuing provisional or non-provisional ballots.
During the board’s public presentations period on Sept. 23, multiple speakers urged the county to clarify and publicize procedures for voters who appear at polling places with vote-by-mail (VBM) ballots, citing a Secretary of State memorandum and state Elections Code sections.
Retired Marine Charles Shin and others read and summarized the Sept. 19, 2025, Secretary of State memorandum reminding counties that a voter may cast a vote-by-mail ballot in person at their polling place under specific conditions and that a surrendered VBM ballot may be placed directly into the ballot box, citing Elections Code section 3016.5.
“This is what Tom Pavich was talking about last year when he tried to put his vote-by-mail ballot in the ballot box and was prevented from doing that,” Charles Shin said, referencing earlier local issues with ballot surrender procedures.
Other speakers detailed statutory processes. Dennis McClain and Jess Sanders emphasized that Elections Code sections 3015 and 3016 provide for surrendering VBM ballots so voters can receive non-provisional (regular) ballots, and they described safeguards counties may adopt to prevent duplicate counting.
Ron Barger warned that provisional ballots are required in certain situations, including when officials cannot verify whether a voter has already returned a VBM ballot. Pamela Ray Reese, addressing poll workers’ duties, said poll workers should never turn a voter away and explained scenarios that can lead to provisional ballots or conditional voter registration.
Speakers asked the county elections office to ensure poll-worker guidance and vote-center procedures reflect the Secretary of State’s guidance and state law so voters can cast their votes without being turned away or improperly forced to use provisional ballots.
No formal board action was taken during the morning session on the topic; the comments were part of the public presentations period.
