By Tobias Young

On the day of the Nov. 3 midterm election, Petaluma polling officials have requested an official state investigation into the high numbers of missing ballots being reported by voters, according to poll workers.

In recent days, "dozens" of voters have reported to poll workers that their mail-in ballots never arrived, according to Jeff Arnold, the inspector at the Petaluma City Hall polling station. They are showing up to cast their votes in person, or to ask for a replacement ballot to take home and fill out and return, Arnold said. 

In a typical election, only a few people show up to request a replacement ballot to fill out, he said.

Arnold said a complaint has been filed with the office of the California Secretary of State. He said he was assured that an investigation would be opened.

"The issue is we're having a lot of people say they've never received their mail-in ballot," Arnold said. "Honestly, it is very disturbing.”

The issue of missing ballots has previously been reported by Petaluma Voice and other local outlets. 

Sonoma County Registrar of Voters Evelyn Mendez said she is also launching a local investigation into the problem. It will be completed following the election.

"We're trying to solve that mystery, but we don't have all the answers right now," Mendez said.

Higher than average numbers of people in Petaluma, and in the town of Sonoma, are voting in person this year, another indication of ballots failing to show up in the mail, Mendez said.

The Sonoma County Registrar of Voters Office does not mail out ballots directly. A third-party vendor called Pro Vote based in the Central Valley town of Porterville printed the ballots and then brought them to a United States Postal Service facility in San Francisco on pallets for delivery through the mail, according to Mendez.

It remains unknown if the cause of the missing ballots is related to the vendor, the post office, or another factor.

However, signs are pointing to the Postal Service. The county pays the vendor based on how many ballots are actually delivered to San Francisco, and those numbers were very close to the actual members of ballots mailed out, Mendez said.

That's an indication that perhaps all the ballots were delivered properly to the post office in San Francisco.

Anecdotally, voters in Petaluma who use the online tracking service "Where’s My Ballot?” have reported that many appear to be stuck in San Francisco, poll workers reported to Petaluma Voice.

The Postal Service denies it has the ballots, according to Mendez. "The USPS said they don't have any ballots anymore," she said.

The problem appears to be random, not even affecting all the people in the same household, workers said.

Mendez said her office has been too busy to complete an investigation, and that it will have to take place after the election.

A message left with the Secretary of State’s press line seeking to clarify the timeline of the state investigation was not immediately returned.

It’s unknown how many Petalumans did not receive their mail-in ballots, but Arnold, the polling station inspector, said almost a fourth of the people showing up at City Hall to vote tell him they are missing their ballots. When they check the status online, it seems to indicate the ballots are still in San Francisco.

He said that because many missing ballots are listed as having been mailed on Oct. 5, yet never delivered, it appears likely the problem lies with the Postal Service.

“Ever since they stopped guaranteeing their postmark, I get the feeling there's some kind of problem there," Arnold said.

Tobias Young is an editor and reporter at Petaluma Voice. He can be reached at tyoung@petalumavoice.org.