Fresno County ballot machines print wrong school district name on three trustee races — AI-generated illustration
Fresno County ballot machines print wrong school district name on three trustee races
Ballot-marking machines at Fresno County vote centers are printing the wrong school district name on ballots for three Fresno Unified School District trustee contests, the county Elections Office disclosed Oct. 31.
Voters using the electronic devices to mark their ballots in Trustee Areas 1, 3, and 4 see “Fresno Unified” correctly on the screen when they make their selections. But when the machine prints the marked ballot, it incorrectly labels the contest as “Fowler Unified.”
Fresno County Clerk and Registrar of Voters James A. Kus confirmed that despite the printing error, the machines still record each voter’s choice in the correct Fresno Unified contest when the ballot is tabulated — not in a Fowler Unified race.
The county cannot fix the printing issue on the machines at this time. Vote-by-mail ballots and ballots printed on demand at vote centers do not show the error — only ballots printed by the ballot-marking devices are affected.
The Breakdown
- The error affects only ballots printed by ballot-marking devices at vote centers, not vote-by-mail ballots or ballots printed on demand.
- Three races are affected: Fresno Unified School District Trustee Areas 1, 3, and 4.
- The screen shows the correct district name (Fresno Unified) when voters make their selections; only the printed ballot shows the wrong name (Fowler Unified).
- Kus says the ballot still records the voter’s choice in the correct Fresno Unified contest when tabulated, regardless of what the printed ballot says.
- Signs will be posted 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 will not show the error.
- Following Election Day, additional precincts in each of the three trustee areas will be drawn for auditing in the manual tally.
- For future elections, the county will add another manual proofing step for ballots printed by marking devices, in addition to the proofing already applied to hand-marked ballots.
What This Means for You
If you live in Fresno Unified Trustee Area 1, 3, or 4 and plan to vote in person using a ballot-marking device, the printed ballot will show the wrong district name — but according to the Registrar, your vote will still count in the correct race.
What You Can Do
If you’re voting in person in one of the affected trustee areas and want a ballot that shows the correct district name, ask for a ballot printed on demand at any vote center instead of using a ballot-marking device. Vote-by-mail ballots also do not show the error.
If you have questions, contact the Fresno County Elections Department.
What to Watch
The county says it will audit additional precincts in the three affected trustee areas following Election Day. The manual tally results from those audited precincts will be released publicly after the election.
The material does not state how many ballots are affected, how long the error has been happening, or whether any votes have already been cast and counted with this error in place.
