Fresno Co. election officials knew about scope of ballot blunder before certifying the election

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- An error at the Fresno County Elections Office is now raising questions as officials reveal the full scope of a ballot blunder, something they say might not have been known for months without Action News asking for answers.

"We have identified 295 voters across the county of Fresno that did end up receiving an incorrect ballot for this election," Fresno County Clerk and Registrar of Voters James Kus told Action News.

The acknowledgment comes after weeks of internal investigation first spurred by Action News.

"I didn't have the opportunity to vote for the person that I should've voted for," voter Rick Steitz said. "I was disenfranchised. I was given the wrong ballot."

Steitz received a ballot for Fresno City Council District 6 even though he lived in District 2. He says he called the elections office on November 6 but never heard back, so he called Action News on November 18.

Action News went straight to Kus, who confirmed within hours that an error impacted 11 voters. The number has since grown to 295.

"295 is too many, but it isn't a large number compared to the 300,000 votes that were cast in Fresno County," Kus said. "It makes me a little disappointed because this was a process we did to improve the election as a whole."

Kus says human error is to blame after a routine check of addresses began in September. Officials correctly updated about 1,000 addresses but inadvertently assigned 295 voters to the wrong precinct.

The county investigation has taken weeks, and the final results come after Kus certified the election last Tuesday. It is now too late to go back.

"What did you know on Tuesday about the scope of this? Did it still stand at 11 last Tuesday?" Action News asked.

"No, last Tuesday, we were aware that we were at 295," Kus said. "What we didn't know then is what was going to be the final results."

"But why move to certify an election when you knew it was 295 people, and why not tell the public it was 295 people last week when you knew?" Action News pressed.

"(These) 295 voters does not affect any single race in Fresno County," Kus said.

41 voters cast incorrect ballots in Area 6 of the Fresno Unified School District, 11 cast the wrong ballots in District 6 for Fresno City Council, and officials allowed one voter to cast a vote in the 13th Congressional District.

The incorrect ballots do not change the outcome of any race. However, the error comes as several local races are razor-thin, including the congressional race where Democrat Adam Gray won by just 187 ballots.

There was also a tie in Fresno County for the first time in 27 years in a local irrigation district.

"It wouldn't have made any difference, but still, my ability to cast my vote has been basically taken away from me," Steitz said.

With human error at the center of the issue, Kus says his department is now looking at retraining and re-assigning the staff members involved. He is also vowing that future address updates will not happen so close to the election.

For news updates, follow Gabe Ferris on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.