California Secretary of State Shirley Weber is warning that “numerous” voters have received an “inaccurate” message suggesting their ballots for California’s special election on redistricting have not been counted.
And she wants the public to know those messages were not sent by her office or local election officials.
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“Our office has received numerous reports from voters that they have received inaccurate text messages from Ballot Now. This has caused voters to believe their returned ballots have not been received or processed by county elections officials,” Weber said in a statement.
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“Let me be clear: Ballot Now is not in any way affiliated with the California Office of the Secretary of State,” she added.
Weber reminded voters that the best place to go for accurate information about their ballot is the secretary of state’s website at www.sos.ca.gov or the websites of county registrars’ offices.
Voters wishing to track the status of their ballot can sign up through california.ballottrax.net, which the secretary of state recommends. They can also check their voter status at voterstatus.sos.ca.gov.
Voters with questions or concerns may also call the secretary of state’s toll-free voter hotline at 800-345-8683. (For a list of hotlines in various languages, visit the SOS voter hotlines webpage.)
“We urge Californians to only trust information shared by my office or their county registrar of voter’s office,” Weber said.
Weber’s office, responding to questions about whether any crime had been committed or if the text messages violated any election law, said in an email that staff members “do not know the intent behind the Ballot Now text messages and we are working to get to the bottom of it.”
Neither the secretary of state’s office nor the California attorney general’s office responded to a question about whether the AG’s office was looking into the matter.
This is not the first time in this election that Weber has issued a statement to clear up rumors or uncertainties.
Earlier this month, she clarified that some vote-by-mail ballot envelopes have small holes on them to help orient visually impaired voters on where to sign. Ballots can be placed in the envelope in ways to ensure that no one can see how a person voted, she said.
That clarification came after claims circulated on social media that the holes were intended as a way for Democrats to “cheat” the election.
Voting for the statewide special election began earlier this month and will run through Tuesday, Nov. 4.
More than 5.5 million Californians had cast their ballots as of Wednesday, according to the secretary of state’s office.
Voters are being asked whether to approve Proposition 50, which would adopt redrawn, partisan congressional maps mid-decade. If the ballot measure passes, the new maps would be used for the 2026, 2028 and 2030 elections, and California would go back to having an independent commission draw new congressional maps in subsequent years.
The proposed maps under Prop. 50 would position Democrats to pick up five additional U.S. House seats – a maneuver that supporters say is intended to counter similar gerrymandering efforts in Texas and other red states which, at the behest of President Donald Trump, are seeking to give Republicans the advantage in next year’s midterm elections so that the GOP can retain control of the House.
