Fresno County Ballot Machines Misprint School District Name — Votes Still Count Correctly, Officials Say — Photo: Douglas W. Jones — CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Fresno County Ballot Machines Misprint School District Name — Votes Still Count Correctly, Officials Say
Ballots printed by voting machines at Fresno County vote centers are listing three Fresno Unified School District trustee races under the wrong district name, county election officials confirmed this week. The machines show “Fresno Unified School District” on the screen when voters make their selections, but the printed ballot reads “Fowler Unified School District.”
County Clerk and Registrar of Voters James A. Kus said the error affects only ballots produced by electronic ballot-marking devices at vote centers — not vote-by-mail ballots or ballots printed on demand. The three affected races are Fresno Unified School District Trustee Areas 1, 3, and 4.
Kus confirmed that despite the wrong name on the printed page, each ballot will still record the voter’s choice in the correct Fresno Unified contest when tabulated, and no other races on the ballot are affected. The county cannot fix the printing issue at this time but is posting signs at all ballot-marking devices explaining the error. Voters in the affected trustee areas can request a ballot printed on demand at any vote center instead of using a ballot-marking device — those ballots do not show the error.
Kus apologized for “any confusion or inconvenience” and directed voters with questions to contact the Fresno County Elections Department.
The Breakdown
- The error appears only on ballots printed by electronic ballot-marking machines at vote centers — the screen shows the correct district name (Fresno Unified), but the printed ballot reads “Fowler Unified School District.”
- Three races are affected: Fresno Unified School District Trustee Areas 1, 3, and 4.
- Vote-by-mail ballots and ballots printed on demand at vote centers do not show the error.
- The county confirmed that votes cast in the affected races will still be counted correctly for Fresno Unified, not Fowler Unified, despite the misprint.
- After Election Day, the county will audit additional precincts in each of the three trustee areas as part of its Manual Tally process.
- For future elections, the county will add another manual proofing step for ballots printed by ballot-marking devices, in addition to the proofing already applied to all hand-marked ballots.
What This Means for You
If you cast a ballot at a vote center using a ballot-marking machine in Trustee Area 1, 3, or 4, and you saw “Fowler Unified” printed on your ballot, your vote still counted for the Fresno Unified race you intended. The county’s tabulation system records your choice in the correct contest, and no other races on your ballot were affected.
If you haven’t voted yet and you’re in one of the affected areas, you can avoid the misprint entirely by requesting a ballot printed on demand at any vote center instead of using the ballot-marking machine.
What You Can Do
If you have questions about your ballot or the error, contact the Fresno County Elections Department directly. If you plan to vote in person at a vote center and want to avoid the misprint, ask for a ballot printed on demand rather than using the ballot-marking device.
What to Watch
The county has promised to audit additional precincts in the three affected trustee areas after Election Day, and to add another manual proofing step for future elections.
The county attributed a separate incident earlier this year — 295 voters receiving incorrect ballots after address updates — to “human decisions rather than any malfunction of its voting systems.” That earlier case involved 41 incorrect ballots in the Fresno Unified Area 6 race, which trustee Claudia Cazares won by 93 votes, and the county said those ballots could not be identified or corrected because voting is secret.
California law under SB 1328 requires a ballot-on-demand vendor to notify the Secretary of State and affected local election officials within 24 hours of discovering a flaw that could affect voting or vote tallying.
