One day after several San Diego city officials alerted the public to a ballot issue that could inadvertently register unintended votes, another group has raised concerns about a similar issue with another ballot measure.
A vote for Measure E could end up registering a vote for Measure K as it appears on the reverse side of the ballot page. A felt-tip pen used to mark the ballot could bleed through to the other side of the page.
"If you use the wrong pen, you could be voting inadvertently," said Sherri Lightner, San Diego City Councilmember for Dristict 1 said Wednesday.
On Thursday, the Independent Voter Project learned of a similar error that would impact results for state measures Propositions 55 and 60.
Prop 55 which determines personal income tax increases on incomes over $250,000 and Prop 60 which would require the use of condoms in the porn industry.
A spokesperson for the Registrar of Voters told NBC 7 that if a "yes" vote is on one side of the page but there is ink bleeding into the "no" box from the other side, the machine would kick the ballot out. A worker would then review the ballot to make sure the intended vote was tallied up correctly.
The issue only impacts people in the City of San Diego. Reprinting the ballots is not an option with the November 8 election so close.
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Lightner said voters must be informed about the flaw.
Election officials will be reaching out to voters in the coming weeks about using a pencil or ballpoint pen to fill out the ballot and not a felt-tip pen.
