Solano County bungles vote-by-mail ballots

Tens of thousands of Solano County voters will receive replacement materials after errors were discovered in their vote-by-mail and sample ballots.

The county registrar of voters said that about 4,700 vote-by-mail and 30,000 sample ballots were sent out with mistakes and replacement ballots will go out to voters early next week.

Assistant Registrar of Voters John Gardner said:

“The county apologizes for the error and any inconvenience and confusion this may have caused. … This second ballot and the new sample ballots are being sent to voters at no additional cost to the city.”

The vote-by-mail ballots are missing several sections for the city of Fairfield, including the city council, city clerk and city treasurer elections.

Voters should use the new ballots once they receive them and destroy the old ones. People who have already cast votes with the faulty ballots should complete their new ballots and send them in, registrar officials said.

If people don’t send in a new ballot, their original ballot will be counted, according to the registrar.

The 30,000 sample ballots need to be replaced because they were sent out without information on the Fairfield elections and Proposition 58.