Riverside County Mistakenly Ships 5,000 Duplicate Ballots

Some 5,000 voters in Canyon Lake, Menifee, Murrieta, Wildomar and Winchester will receive duplicate mail-in ballots due to a “computer system error” announced by the Riverside County Registrar of Voters Tuesday. 

“It is important to note that none of the duplicate ballots will result in a voter being able to cast more than one ballot,” said Registrar Rebecca Spencer. “I take election integrity seriously and apologize for the inconvenience.”

Bar codes included on every envelope will automatically lock a voter’s record, she explained, preventing them from casting a duplicate ballot.

For those who receive the extra mail, Spencer recommends destroying the duplicate. 

The error is already being hailed as evidence of widespread voter fraud and government conspiracy on right-wing websites and Twitter accounts. It comes at a time of heightened distrust in America’s election systems, particularly among Republicans. 

Riverside’s district attorney conducted an investigation into election integrity last year. The probe found virtually no voter fraud in the county, with the exception of a single case in the 2016 election.