Santa Barbara County voters began receiving their November election ballots on Tuesday, but there was something missing.
Sample ballots and local voter information guides, which usually go out before voters start to receive ballots, have not yet been mailed.
“I got my ballot in the mail on Tuesday, and then it dawned on me that I never received a sample ballot,” said Jim Richardson, a candidate running for county Board of Education trustee for Area Four.
County Clerk-Recorder Joe Holland said the delay in mailing voter information guides and sample ballots was simply because of the heavy demand on ballot printers during the printing process. Hopefully, he said, they will be sent to local post offices on Wednesday and voters can expect them in the mail shortly after.
Sample ballots and voter information guides are available at sbcvote.com by clicking on “County Voter Information Guide and Polling Place Lookup,” but some candidates said they are concerned that people may be voting early without being adequately informed because of the delay in mailing the guides.
“I am worried that due to clearly poor management, the integrity of my county’s voting system has been put in jeopardy,” said Cage Englander, a candidate running for county Board of Education trustee for Area Two. “An integral part of our electoral system is having an informed voter base. Santa Barbara County sent out ballots early, with no warning to the candidates.”
Without the mailing of voter guides, incumbents are put at a significant advantage, Englander said, adding that it’s troubling because of the “extremely” high number of new candidates running in the county.
Candidates spend a significant amount of money to have their statements printed on the ballot. Englander said his statement cost $1,911 to print, and Richardson spent $1,600 on his. Richardson said he was counting on his statement to attract voters.
“Those ballot statements are an integral part of many candidates’ campaigns,” Richardson said. “Since the sample ballots are going out after the actual ballot, I’m afraid people won’t vote for me because they don’t know who I am.”
While most people presumably have made up their mind regarding the national elections, he said, many need additional information on the more local issues.
“I’m going to lose a week of essential campaign time,” Richardson said. “People may have already voted without seeing that sample ballot and my statement.”
Holland said he expects, however, that many voters will wait to vote until the sample ballots and guides come in the mail, adding that many people choose not to even receive a paper information guide.
Holland said he was thrilled to get election ballots out a week ahead of schedule and felt it was important to be ahead of the game.
“This is by far the biggest vote-by-mail election in California, and it’s important that we got everything out in a timely manner,” he said.
Ballot printers had to deal with an unprecedented heavy volume this year, Holland said, and the County Elections Office did not want to risk ballots being late.
“I think people are super relieved to have their ballots,” he said.
— Noozhawk staff writer Jade Martinez-Pogue can be reached at jmartinez-pogue@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
