"How Your Vote Is Really Counted": County Clerk Dismantles Election Myths (Donna Linder)

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welcome back to another world of blades as you can see i have another guest with me today her

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name is donna linder she is the county clerk recorder for stanislaus county she holds many

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hats, County clerk recorder. I'm going to read your card because I just want everybody to know

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that you and I did actually meet in person before we did this. So that's, you know, this is how this

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happened. So County clerk recorder, registrar of voters and commissioner of civil marriages

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for Stanislaus County. And we brought Donna on because the midterms are coming up around the

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corner and election integrity is always a question. And Donna, before we get going, I unfortunately

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have to do the sponsor thing. So please hold tight. I don't mean to make you just sit there

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and watch me read something, but I got to do it. You know what I'm saying? So give me one second

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here, Donna, and I'll be right back with you. All right, everybody. As you know, we have a

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You can see it right there at worldoflazepodcast.com.

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All right, let's get back to Donna.

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So Donna, how have you been?

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Busy, preparing for an election.

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Right?

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So I've actually had a, it's not in Stanislaw County,

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but I had Rhonda Shader who's running for California Senate in District 34.

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And we had a discussion about election integrity.

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and so i think it's very timely for you to be here because i saw i saw a post recently let's

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put it this way it just popped up it's like hey you know that the midterms are about 60 days away

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and i was like oh wow you know it's it's funny how fast time flies and everybody starts to forget

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about it and also it's right on top of you and so the thing that always comes up as i'm sure you're

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very well aware because i'm sure you get many questions about it is election integrity and i

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don't think a lot of people understand the process and neither did i before i talked to you by the

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way. And when I talked to you, I saw your presentation and you and I got to have a good

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chat about what it is you do. And what I understand is everything you do on your side is like,

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I think you're on it and you're doing everything that you can do within your control to ensure

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that there is actual integrity within the elections as far as how balance are counted,

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how you verify them, everything that goes into that. And also you have an answer,

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as we discussed offline, to why does it take California so long to count things?

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So I'm sure that you'll get into that here in a bit.

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So moving forward, can you please give everybody a little bit of background on you and what it is that you actually do for the county?

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So how did I get here is kind of what you're thinking, right?

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I didn't set out to work in the clerk quarter registrar voters office or even to be the clerk quarter registrar voters.

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I came to work at the county 23 years ago when I was like 10 years old because, you know, that way you don't know how old I am.

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And I started out in a low-level position and worked my way up.

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I went to college, got my degree, worked my way up into management, assistant registrar, and then assistant clerk porter.

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And when the clerk quarter decided to retire, she asked, do you want to run for office?

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And I thought, I don't know.

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That means I have to go out and talk to people all the time.

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And I'm not the background worker person.

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But I did it.

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I went out and started talking to people.

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And I grew up here.

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I grew up in Stanislaus County or partly in Merced County.

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I lived in Hillmar.

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And I raised my family here.

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And I have a real heart for our community and making it a good place to live and making sure that elections have that integrity.

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I vote here.

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My staff votes here.

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My family votes here.

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And so we want to make it the best it can be in at least Stanislaus County.

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Nice.

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Now, here's the thing.

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Living in Stanislaus County, you being the recorder in Stanislaus County, I know that you're doing everything in your power.

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So I'm going to bring something up here.

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And as I told you before, none of this is gotcha.

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None of this is putting on your spot.

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It's just going to open the conversation a bit.

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And you can answer however you want.

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So first of all, people question California's election integrity.

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So this is from the Heritage Foundation.

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Now, we can question the validity of this because I guess a lot of people would consider the Heritage Foundation to be maybe a little far right or fringe or whatever.

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But they did a study and the score, as you can see, for state of California was only 30, ranking last of all states.

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And some of those concerns of top ranking were basically voter ID implementation, accuracy of voter registration lists.

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And then if you go down, there's also the absentee ballot management.

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And another thing California has been under fire for has been the mail-in ballots.

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In 2023, there was another study done, and this was by the Transparency Foundation, who is nonpartisan, by the way.

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So it's not a left or right type of narrative.

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It was just down the middle.

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This is how we score California.

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Of course, this was a few years ago, but a lot of people still have the same sentiment.

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And so in their study, California receives a failing grade on nonpartisan election integrity scorecard after audit fines, evidence of voter fraud, inaccurate voter lists, inadequate signature reviews.

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and voter suppression.

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And it does go ahead and it says that public trust and confidence was a fail.

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Accurate maintenance of voter list verifying identity of voters fail.

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Confirmation eligibility of citizenship.

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And it goes on.

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And I'm sure you've heard all the talking points.

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So I'm not going to beat you to death with this.

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And again, it's not on you because, again, I heard your presentation.

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I talked to you personally.

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So I know that you're fine on your side.

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But this is what people think regardless of who you are, right?

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right away they think you're not doing what you're supposed to be doing. They automatically

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don't think you're really going out of your way to do your job to make sure that everything is on

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the up and up, as they say. How do you respond to this? How do you respond to these studies and

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the narratives that are being spread around? Unfortunately, I can't speak for every county.

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And there are laws in California that not everybody likes, including us that work here.

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Um, so in our county, we do things to try to, um, um, take things to a different level.

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So say you're doing a duplication of ballots.

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Um, duplication is created because a ballot's ripped or, uh, something spilled on it that

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will cause the count to be inaccurate or our military ballots have already gone out.

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They're not on ballot paper.

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They have to be transferred.

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Code says that only takes two people.

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One calling off what's on the damaged and one marking.

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We use four people to make sure that you're watching those two people to make sure things are marked correctly.

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Even in our partial hand count, we use four people.

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There's all these little extra steps that we put into everything that causes us to know that what we're doing is protecting the vote and the integrity of the vote.

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When we do adjudication, it's always a full-time person and either a part-time person or somebody from the clerk quarter department comes over.

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So you have two full-time people.

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There's always that extra layer of, I only have 10 full-time staff.

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I should probably mention that.

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So a full-time person is always in charge of a process,

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but then you'll see part-time people actually doing a lot of the process.

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And so we put those extra layers in to create that safeguard in Stanislaus County.

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Now, some other counties do that, but I don't know for sure all of them do these extra steps.

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We also, I'm the clerk quarter and the registrar voters.

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So helping to keep our voter rolls clean,

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we get the death list every month

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from our public health department

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that goes straight to elections to go through our rolls

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to make sure that if there's a deceased person on there,

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we can make sure they get taken off the voter rolls.

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Now there's laws that say we can't just cancel them.

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There's all these things.

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We have to send out cards.

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Are you really dead?

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And that type of thing.

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You know, sometimes we even think that's silly, but, you know, it is the law, but we can make them inactive so we don't mail them a ballot.

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We aren't, you know, and if they do mail us a ballot, it's like, hmm, we need to check into this.

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We don't just count it.

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And so we have those extra steps in place, too.

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Some things are law and we have to follow the law, but we're putting that extra Stanislaus County touch on things, too.

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How long, interesting, that you brought up cleaning up the voter registrations or registrars,

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because in the case of a death, for example, what's the process?

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And what I mean by that, well, actually, let me ask that question again.

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What's the timeline that is given so that you can legitimately verify that someone might have passed?

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We have to send out, I want to say, two postcards, one initially and then another one just to be sure.

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I don't know. And they're forwardable. I think that's always hilarious. Where are you sending it?

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But so we have we do have to do those steps. But like I said, they're inactive. And sometimes

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that's where people think that the voter rolls are off, because when you look at, say, the EAC,

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they take even the inactives and put them on there. So it looks like you have all these people

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on your rolls that shouldn't be. They're not active, which means we don't mail them anything.

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They aren't an active voter, but they're there until we can send the postcards,

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get the confirmations or get nothing and take them off the rolls.

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What's that time though? How long do they get to respond back to you for verification?

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Is there a time period or how do you determine?

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So death is different than like return mail.

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Return mail, you have to not vote in two federal elections.

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So that takes a few years.

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Death is depending on when the, we call them events.

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I know that's a terrible saying, but event happens.

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if it's right around election time, it would take longer because no changes to registration

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happen during an election. Now, we can make you inactive, but we aren't sending out the postcards

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and changing things during that time because that will cause a problem for actual voters

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and their ability to vote. So it could take a little longer if it's right in the middle of an

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election, but typically it could take just a few months.

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Okay.

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A long time.

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Right.

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But so you do give them plenty of time to make sure you're not making a

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mistake.

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And it also gives them time to actually respond.

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So after a few months, and of course,

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it sounds like you're doing this well before usually a vote actually comes

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up.

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So after, after that time, you're just like, okay, we gave them enough time.

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They've had enough time to respond.

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Then we're going to assume or we're going to have to, you know,

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make a judgment call and they're inactive or they might have just passed well they'll be inactive

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right away and then if there's either a response from the family or no response

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to the postcard then another one is sent and then once we have either confirmation or something from that postcard we cancel them So they not on our goals at all

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So we inactivate people right away.

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Got it.

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So once you hear of or anything has been filed for death,

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for example, like death certificate right away,

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they're inactive.

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And then you also take the next step to make sure

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that they're also actually deceased.

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Sounds like.

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Correct.

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Okay.

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Got it.

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And I jokingly say,

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anyone can tell you somebody passed away.

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Right.

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So you have to double check everything.

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No, it makes sense.

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And return mail,

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that was put in place to start protecting people

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because we get return mail

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and the person has never moved.

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Nothing's ever happened,

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but a mistake at the post office

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can cause that. We had a person's registration changed because their child went to school in San

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Francisco and they went and registered their car there for their child and it changed their whole

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registration to San Francisco. So you have that inactive phase or that let's double check phase.

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If your registration change, we're going to send you a card and say, hey, there's a change in your

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registration, you know, just to double check. Yeah. I get it. Um, you know, another example,

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I mean, my father, he, uh, my sister lives in another state. So he, he went to go visit her

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and stayed with her for literally, I think it was almost three months and which at that point,

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he's not responding to mail at his residence. Right. So I can see, you know, where that can

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also be an issue, for example. Yeah. So these things do happen. Got it. So what about verification?

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I'm not sure. I'll be honest. I'm foggy on how it works within our county or even at the state

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level. But I know in federal elections, the verifying a person's identity, not just her

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identity, but as in their citizenship to vote for a federal election. How has that been currently

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handling or how's it handled in Stanislaus County? So all registration is the same, whether it's a

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federal election or a state election. When you register and you put down either your last four

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year social or your driver's license number, that is ran through the database that connects to DMV

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or Social Security and verifies that. If that can't be verified, that's when a first-time voter

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does have to show identification. So there are times when people have to show identification,

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it's first time voters that something couldn't be checked.

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And so then they are showing identification.

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So if you're ever at a vote center and somebody is showing ID,

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that's why if they're voting by mail,

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they can come in or send,

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send copies in.

222
00:15:59,289 --> 00:15:59,309
So,

223
00:15:59,309 --> 00:16:00,229
so,

224
00:16:00,229 --> 00:16:02,749
so IDs present at the time of registering,

225
00:16:02,869 --> 00:16:03,489
but after that,

226
00:16:03,549 --> 00:16:04,849
they're not required to show ID.

227
00:16:05,509 --> 00:16:05,789
No.

228
00:16:06,329 --> 00:16:07,029
How is it?

229
00:16:07,109 --> 00:16:08,269
How do you verify?

230
00:16:08,269 --> 00:16:12,729
a citizenship, for example, though? How would that happen?

231
00:16:12,929 --> 00:16:17,829
It's through those two things. So at Social Security, I learned these things

232
00:16:17,829 --> 00:16:24,249
because I had to research something. But Social Security, people can get a Social Security card

233
00:16:24,249 --> 00:16:32,669
if they're not a citizen. But there's levels, just like DMV. So you are a citizen, you have this type

234
00:16:32,669 --> 00:16:36,129
of Social Security card. If you're on a green card, you're going to get this type of Social

235
00:16:36,129 --> 00:16:42,609
security card. So it's ran through that database, just like DMV. They're separated, showing the

236
00:16:42,609 --> 00:16:50,489
difference. And so they'll run it through DMV and say, oh, wait, this one has the wrong driver's

237
00:16:50,489 --> 00:16:54,949
license or through social security, wait, this one has wrong social security card. And you get

238
00:16:54,949 --> 00:17:02,469
a social security card when you're a baby. So those are there. So it sounds like the talk going

239
00:17:02,469 --> 00:17:07,169
around the narrative, the stories of verifying citizenship and whatnot really doesn't apply,

240
00:17:07,309 --> 00:17:13,329
or it's not a thing to even argue. Is that correct in my assessment or assumption here?

241
00:17:14,329 --> 00:17:16,129
As far as what we do,

242
00:17:18,649 --> 00:17:25,949
we feel like we're checking everything. I know there's a lot of talk, will they give everybody

243
00:17:25,949 --> 00:17:31,809
a driver's license? Well, think about when you were 16 or your child was 16. You had to take a

244
00:17:31,809 --> 00:17:35,889
birth certificate to get that driver's license. So if you're in there without your birth certificate,

245
00:17:36,309 --> 00:17:40,249
you're getting something different. And that's how they can separate those.

246
00:17:41,829 --> 00:17:48,129
So as far as you're concerned, in what you deal with in your job, you're going through the steps,

247
00:17:48,309 --> 00:17:52,669
you're going through the system, like all the rules and regulations in place, you're doing what you

248
00:17:52,669 --> 00:17:58,069
can. So it's basically a combination of having someone like you actually doing your job and also

249
00:17:58,069 --> 00:18:02,629
trusting that the other measures and systems are in place and actually functioning correctly.

250
00:18:03,589 --> 00:18:04,029
Correct.

251
00:18:04,589 --> 00:18:11,169
Yeah. Okay. Interesting. So opinion time, you don't have to give me a straight answer if you don't

252
00:18:11,169 --> 00:18:16,749
want given your position, but I mean, where do you think the talk is coming up from then? Like,

253
00:18:16,749 --> 00:18:21,769
how did all this start about illegal immigrants being able to vote in federal elections, for

254
00:18:21,769 --> 00:18:27,069
example? Where do you think that came from if all these other measures and safeguards are in place

255
00:18:27,069 --> 00:18:36,369
already? I think that there's some misunderstanding about driver's license because that's why I

256
00:18:36,369 --> 00:18:42,769
mentioned that when you were 16, you had to show your birth certificate because I hear that when I

257
00:18:42,769 --> 00:18:46,089
say, well, you're going to write down your driver's license number. We're going to check DMV.

258
00:18:46,509 --> 00:18:51,549
Well, everybody gets driver's license. Well, yes, but when you're a citizen, you're showing your

259
00:18:51,549 --> 00:18:58,329
birth certificate. And I was going to say something else. Now I'm totally lost.

260
00:19:00,229 --> 00:19:02,469
Was that truck driving behind you in the background?

261
00:19:02,769 --> 00:19:08,369
It was because I was thinking, can you hear that? My windows aren't that great. I'm on the third

262
00:19:08,369 --> 00:19:21,809
floor. But there's the DMV and, oh, I know, same day registration. Because I had somebody come

263
00:19:21,809 --> 00:19:28,189
very upset about same day registration. Yes, you can register on election day and they're going to

264
00:19:28,189 --> 00:19:33,969
give you a ballot based on where you say you live. But you're going to put that in an envelope

265
00:19:33,969 --> 00:19:35,829
that's going to come back to our office

266
00:19:35,829 --> 00:19:38,789
and we're going to do all those checks to make sure.

267
00:19:39,769 --> 00:19:41,749
Do you live in Stanislaus County?

268
00:19:43,449 --> 00:19:44,889
Yes, by your address.

269
00:19:45,369 --> 00:19:46,889
Did you vote someplace else?

270
00:19:47,089 --> 00:19:51,749
Did you vote in San Joaquin a month before the election?

271
00:19:51,829 --> 00:19:52,909
Because that's when your ballot went out

272
00:19:52,909 --> 00:19:55,069
and then move here on election day

273
00:19:55,069 --> 00:19:58,169
and run down and register and try to vote here again.

274
00:19:59,489 --> 00:20:03,469
And we have your driver's license or your social security

275
00:20:03,469 --> 00:20:08,009
that we're going to put into that, you know, go Secretary of State and off into those databases.

276
00:20:08,449 --> 00:20:16,449
So they don't just vote on election day. Those are counted after vote by mail, after, you know,

277
00:20:16,529 --> 00:20:20,749
everything else has been done. Then we process those and do that research.

278
00:20:21,409 --> 00:20:27,629
Yeah. Okay. So I guess it's really coming down to there's a lot of misunderstanding. And then,

279
00:20:27,809 --> 00:20:31,569
you know, there may be things outside of your office, for example, or anybody who has your

280
00:20:31,569 --> 00:20:35,069
position, there's things outside your control that you personally don't have control of.

281
00:20:35,769 --> 00:20:40,849
And in California, they have the right to cure ballots. They have people that can collect ballots.

282
00:20:40,989 --> 00:20:46,069
There's always talks of stuff in the ballot boxes, et cetera. I don't know if you've ever faced that

283
00:20:46,069 --> 00:20:49,549
or heard any stories about that, but it sounds like from your end, as far as what your involvement

284
00:20:49,549 --> 00:20:54,269
is, that you're doing what you have to do. And then as you said, you can't speak for every

285
00:20:54,269 --> 00:20:57,609
county or everybody, but at least you're doing what you're supposed to do, which is a good thing.

286
00:20:57,609 --> 00:21:02,269
now are those stories have you ever heard of any of those stories I brought up

287
00:21:02,269 --> 00:21:08,689
to be true or of real concern or from what you know are there also safeguards in place for those

288
00:21:08,689 --> 00:21:20,669
scenarios so when you vote by mail historically when you went to a poll you signed on a piece of

289
00:21:20,669 --> 00:21:28,009
paper and we never looked at that. So that could have been an issue. Now, when you vote by mail,

290
00:21:28,129 --> 00:21:33,849
and even back then, when vote by mail first started, we're going to check your signature.

291
00:21:34,309 --> 00:21:39,549
So have we had people collect all the ballots from their neighborhood and bring them in?

292
00:21:40,189 --> 00:21:48,229
Good Samaritans, what have you. But we're checking every single one of those signatures

293
00:21:48,229 --> 00:21:55,009
and we're looking really carefully at those because we want to make sure that this person

294
00:21:55,009 --> 00:22:01,509
really signed this. And our signatures go through several checks. So it goes through the first pass,

295
00:22:01,749 --> 00:22:08,569
which those people are seeing your most recent signature. And if it's not dead on, they're

296
00:22:08,569 --> 00:22:14,489
more likely going to challenge that. And then it goes to an upper level staff member who's been

297
00:22:14,489 --> 00:22:19,549
checking signatures for a lot longer, really knows the things to look for, and then they have access

298
00:22:19,549 --> 00:22:27,589
to older signatures. So we don't just look at, oh, you registered again yesterday, but this signature

299
00:22:27,589 --> 00:22:31,929
doesn't look like it at all. We're going to look at other things. And then if they still are not

300
00:22:31,929 --> 00:22:37,669
sure, it goes to management who, if we continue to challenge it, then we're going to send you

301
00:22:37,669 --> 00:22:45,049
the cure form that says, you know, your signature didn't compare. Basically, is this you? Did you

302
00:22:45,049 --> 00:22:51,929
sign this? You know, kind of feedback. We need something from you. Now, people get their envelopes

303
00:22:51,929 --> 00:22:59,469
mixed up. Your envelope is tied to your registration. And so we will take an envelope and say,

304
00:23:00,049 --> 00:23:07,449
this says Sally on the envelope, but George signed it. And so George lives at 123 Any Street

305
00:23:07,449 --> 00:23:09,249
Who else lives at 123 Any Street?

306
00:23:09,629 --> 00:23:10,669
Oh, here's Sally.

307
00:23:11,149 --> 00:23:15,069
And here's her ballot, her signature on George's.

308
00:23:15,229 --> 00:23:16,089
And we compare.

309
00:23:16,629 --> 00:23:24,429
And then we can put those through instead of every time two people get their envelopes mixed up, just challenging those.

310
00:23:25,229 --> 00:23:28,969
But so ballotiers have a good place.

311
00:23:29,349 --> 00:23:34,429
It's just the law does allow them to be turned in for quite a while.

312
00:23:34,429 --> 00:23:36,829
So how is it?

313
00:23:37,009 --> 00:23:42,429
So then how are you comparing signatures for those who can't sign or write?

314
00:23:42,529 --> 00:23:44,009
Like there'll be someone who signs for them.

315
00:23:45,029 --> 00:23:46,209
How does that work?

316
00:23:46,849 --> 00:23:48,509
So you can't sign for somebody.

317
00:23:48,969 --> 00:23:50,409
We do get X.

318
00:23:51,349 --> 00:23:52,109
That's what I meant.

319
00:23:52,369 --> 00:23:52,529
Yeah.

320
00:23:54,029 --> 00:24:02,609
So if it's the first time you're doing an X, you're going to do an X and somebody has to witness that.

321
00:24:02,609 --> 00:24:06,289
and we'll have you re-register with that X.

322
00:24:07,649 --> 00:24:11,829
You'd be surprised at how Xs can be very unique also.

323
00:24:12,649 --> 00:24:16,289
People put things in their X that,

324
00:24:17,229 --> 00:24:19,969
different slants, different loops, different.

325
00:24:20,289 --> 00:24:22,429
So even an X can be compared.

326
00:24:23,129 --> 00:24:25,709
It sounds unusual,

327
00:24:25,709 --> 00:24:29,789
but we are taught by an ex-FBI agent

328
00:24:29,789 --> 00:24:32,329
things to look for in writing.

329
00:24:32,609 --> 00:24:36,929
So you're actually matching their particular writing style.

330
00:24:37,429 --> 00:24:37,829
Yes.

331
00:24:37,949 --> 00:24:39,949
And we do actually look at X's even.

332
00:24:41,009 --> 00:24:41,769
That's interesting.

333
00:24:42,269 --> 00:24:42,749
Okay.

334
00:24:43,229 --> 00:24:44,069
That's interesting.

335
00:24:44,229 --> 00:24:45,009
I didn't even know that.

336
00:24:45,809 --> 00:24:50,649
So let's talk about this because it sounds like some of these things,

337
00:24:50,649 --> 00:24:52,669
when we're talking about ballot carrying and checking signatures,

338
00:24:53,149 --> 00:24:53,449
it could,

339
00:24:54,109 --> 00:24:55,689
it sounds like it already is going to answer the question,

340
00:24:55,749 --> 00:24:57,649
but we did talk about earlier,

341
00:24:58,889 --> 00:24:59,609
I think offline,

342
00:24:59,749 --> 00:25:01,149
how California people always complain,

343
00:25:01,149 --> 00:25:05,389
Why does it take so long to count ballots when other states can do it within a couple of days?

344
00:25:05,909 --> 00:25:07,069
You know, why California?

345
00:25:07,169 --> 00:25:10,169
Why do we take so long California versus other states?

346
00:25:13,849 --> 00:25:16,489
So it's funny.

347
00:25:18,229 --> 00:25:20,189
I'm going on a cruise.

348
00:25:20,529 --> 00:25:23,229
That has anything to do with this, but I'm leaving out of Florida.

349
00:25:23,229 --> 00:25:28,889
And I thought, I'm going to call their registrar and go over there and see how come you're done so much faster than us.

350
00:25:28,889 --> 00:25:51,769
And then when I went to their website, a third of their voters are vote by mail. And so I thought, oh, and they get their ballots early like ours. And they have to be in by seven o'clock on election day. So they have to be in early where we accept them for seven days after.

351
00:25:51,769 --> 00:26:09,318
So I don know about every county but in St Susie County we get almost half just under half of our vote by mail ballots on election day or the day after So when you looking at 200 vote by mail and half of them came in two days

352
00:26:09,518 --> 00:26:17,258
it takes time to go through that whole process of checking signatures and everything that we do to protect the vote.

353
00:26:17,258 --> 00:26:28,178
if in in one of our elections we had 240,000 I think it was my math could be off so don't don't

354
00:26:28,178 --> 00:26:34,078
do math based on what I say when I took their third it would have been like 70,000 of them

355
00:26:34,078 --> 00:26:40,638
and we would have still had 200 and some odd thousand to count based on that math and so

356
00:26:40,638 --> 00:26:48,978
even before we went all vote by mail in California, 75% of the voters in Stanislaus

357
00:26:48,978 --> 00:26:58,078
County were vote by mail. So it isn't new. And it's always been very protected as far as checking

358
00:26:58,078 --> 00:27:04,898
signatures, making sure that it's that right person. So all that process takes time. And the

359
00:27:04,898 --> 00:27:09,478
fact that we're waiting for seven days after an election takes even longer.

360
00:27:09,998 --> 00:27:13,158
And so that does not help us be done by being faster.

361
00:27:14,158 --> 00:27:14,278
Yeah.

362
00:27:14,518 --> 00:27:16,298
So, but we also hear stories.

363
00:27:17,038 --> 00:27:22,318
You may not have an answer for this, but we hear stories of how like last year, what was

364
00:27:22,318 --> 00:27:23,098
the last year or the year before?

365
00:27:23,358 --> 00:27:29,778
I forget what it was, but it took like 14 days or more and some, not Saskatchewan, but

366
00:27:29,778 --> 00:27:34,518
some other districts to get everything in and counted and verified.

367
00:27:35,438 --> 00:27:39,758
And I think those are the little things like that that make people feel a little bit uneasy

368
00:27:39,758 --> 00:27:44,058
about election integrity, where it's like, okay, we have a standard of seven days, for

369
00:27:44,058 --> 00:27:45,218
example, after, right?

370
00:27:45,838 --> 00:27:51,278
But is that seven days after all the votes after election day or seven days from when

371
00:27:51,278 --> 00:27:57,098
they actually date and give you their election, their ballot?

372
00:27:57,098 --> 00:28:04,818
seven days after election day and it must be postmarked um before or on election day

373
00:28:04,818 --> 00:28:17,878
so um we do get ballots that late um so we're done in our county um usually by

374
00:28:17,878 --> 00:28:24,918
15 days which still sounds like a long time but remember we can't do provisionals or conditionals

375
00:28:24,918 --> 00:28:26,698
until we're done with vote by mail.

376
00:28:26,878 --> 00:28:29,978
And we can't finish vote by mail until after seven days.

377
00:28:30,578 --> 00:28:33,338
And we do get ballots on the seventh day.

378
00:28:34,258 --> 00:28:37,438
Shockingly, I thought, oh, this is a really long time.

379
00:28:37,498 --> 00:28:38,818
We won't get any ballots, but we do.

380
00:28:40,138 --> 00:28:43,478
And the mail, and I'm not saying anything negative.

381
00:28:43,618 --> 00:28:45,998
I don't want to talk bad about other government agencies,

382
00:28:45,998 --> 00:28:48,398
but it's taking longer and longer to get here.

383
00:28:48,398 --> 00:28:52,598
And if one thing your listeners should know is

384
00:28:52,598 --> 00:28:54,818
if you're going to wait too long,

385
00:28:54,918 --> 00:29:03,378
you need to go in and have your ballot or your envelope postmarked because they go to Sacramento before they're postmarked and it can take two or three days.

386
00:29:04,898 --> 00:29:10,278
So wait, so all ballots in California go to Sacramento and then back to the counties?

387
00:29:11,058 --> 00:29:12,658
Stanislaus goes to Sacramento.

388
00:29:13,058 --> 00:29:14,398
Oh, because the post office.

389
00:29:15,118 --> 00:29:15,698
Oh, I'm sorry.

390
00:29:15,698 --> 00:29:19,678
It used to be your ballots or your ballots.

391
00:29:20,038 --> 00:29:23,538
Any mail was stamped at Kearney here in Modesto.

392
00:29:23,798 --> 00:29:24,158
Okay.

393
00:29:24,158 --> 00:29:27,878
even Oakdale's and all of that went right there.

394
00:29:28,258 --> 00:29:29,778
Now they don't do that anymore.

395
00:29:29,938 --> 00:29:31,518
Everything is processed in Sacramento.

396
00:29:32,338 --> 00:29:37,598
We got ballots that people had signed them two days before the election.

397
00:29:37,978 --> 00:29:40,938
We can't go by that signature date because you want,

398
00:29:41,398 --> 00:29:45,258
but they more than likely did drop them in the mail two days before.

399
00:29:46,138 --> 00:29:46,198
Okay.

400
00:29:46,258 --> 00:29:47,378
So that's where I got lost.

401
00:29:47,458 --> 00:29:50,098
So we're referring to how the mail is handled.

402
00:29:50,098 --> 00:29:53,358
So even though they drop it in the mail here in the county,

403
00:29:53,358 --> 00:29:56,178
it still goes to Sacramento and then comes back to the county.

404
00:29:56,538 --> 00:29:56,598
Right.

405
00:29:56,898 --> 00:29:58,698
So it does take a while.

406
00:29:58,898 --> 00:30:02,658
So we are getting not thousands and thousands,

407
00:30:02,918 --> 00:30:05,638
but we can get a few hundred ballots seven days later.

408
00:30:06,678 --> 00:30:07,038
Okay.

409
00:30:07,338 --> 00:30:07,818
Gotcha.

410
00:30:08,118 --> 00:30:12,098
So it's really tricky, right?

411
00:30:12,618 --> 00:30:18,178
Because it sounds like there are areas for where there could be fraud,

412
00:30:18,338 --> 00:30:20,938
but at the same time, not really.

413
00:30:20,938 --> 00:30:25,078
so it's hard to decipher like what's true and what isn't i mean what you're telling me i'm not

414
00:30:25,078 --> 00:30:30,358
saying is true i believe me it's it's just sometimes it does make you wonder you know

415
00:30:30,358 --> 00:30:36,138
when it comes to certain things um and you know could things happen in the mail could someone be

416
00:30:36,138 --> 00:30:40,918
you know i i guess they're they're from what it sounds like what you're telling me there can't be

417
00:30:40,918 --> 00:30:45,678
fraud because based on all the systems in place they're like you're already verified before you

418
00:30:45,678 --> 00:30:50,118
even place your vote they already they already know if you're a citizen they already have the

419
00:30:50,118 --> 00:30:53,718
signature on file. There's all these other measures in place that doesn't sound like they

420
00:30:53,718 --> 00:30:58,878
can really circumvent, unless there was some crazy hacker from some other country that

421
00:30:58,878 --> 00:31:05,998
really broke the system and tried to go out of the way to do these things. But aside from that,

422
00:31:06,138 --> 00:31:10,898
it sounds like we're pretty much in good place as far as elections are concerning.

423
00:31:11,538 --> 00:31:17,878
As much as we can be. I'm sure, I'm not a criminal, so I can't think of all the ways that you could

424
00:31:17,878 --> 00:31:21,818
you know, get around the system. And I'm sure somebody's thinking of something, but

425
00:31:21,818 --> 00:31:30,818
within, you know, the law we do as the best we can. I mean, and I feel like in Stanislaus County,

426
00:31:30,818 --> 00:31:38,718
we do a good job. We have a DA that's very pro. If we see something, we turn it in and he's good

427
00:31:38,718 --> 00:31:45,178
about, you know, if there's anything there, he can help prosecute. And my staff's really,

428
00:31:45,178 --> 00:31:55,178
careful about, hey, this doesn't look right. And so we're just careful. Now, we are a mid-sized

429
00:31:55,178 --> 00:32:01,278
county. I used to say we're small, but we're not anymore. We're 300,000 voters. That puts us up

430
00:32:01,278 --> 00:32:08,778
there. But we still take that extra steps to be careful. 300,000. And how many people you have on

431
00:32:08,778 --> 00:32:16,178
staff when it comes to time to count and verify ballots? I have 10 full-time, but we do hire

432
00:32:16,178 --> 00:32:23,698
between 180 to 200 part-time every election. Now, I say we hire. A lot of those are returning.

433
00:32:23,698 --> 00:32:30,958
They've worked here for years. And some of them were poll workers before we went all-male.

434
00:32:30,958 --> 00:32:37,918
and then that kind of changed the dynamic based on vote centers.

435
00:32:38,098 --> 00:32:40,378
The way that you were processed at a vote center,

436
00:32:40,818 --> 00:32:43,218
they had to become employees because their background checked

437
00:32:43,218 --> 00:32:45,018
and they can see your registration.

438
00:32:45,398 --> 00:32:47,598
And so we wanted them to go through the county background.

439
00:32:48,198 --> 00:32:50,458
So they're vetted and most of these people that have already been vetted,

440
00:32:50,798 --> 00:32:53,098
it's just easier to keep bringing those people back.

441
00:32:53,338 --> 00:32:53,718
Correct.

442
00:32:53,718 --> 00:32:56,178
They know what they're doing.

443
00:32:56,578 --> 00:32:59,218
It's easier to refresh their training.

444
00:32:59,658 --> 00:33:01,658
They've done some things over and over again.

445
00:33:02,438 --> 00:33:03,778
They work at the vote centers.

446
00:33:03,978 --> 00:33:04,938
They help in the office.

447
00:33:06,118 --> 00:33:11,398
So it's better to have people who come back over and over again.

448
00:33:12,138 --> 00:33:14,938
So how secure are the ballot boxes, though?

449
00:33:15,138 --> 00:33:19,478
I mean, not the one in your office, but like the ones out, like the drop boxes, etc.

450
00:33:19,638 --> 00:33:20,918
Like, are they really secure?

451
00:33:21,058 --> 00:33:24,758
I mean, someone going to drive by and gank it out with a truck or something.

452
00:33:24,758 --> 00:33:25,318
I don't know.

453
00:33:25,398 --> 00:33:26,118
Have you seen stories?

454
00:33:26,358 --> 00:33:27,218
You've seen videos?

455
00:33:28,158 --> 00:33:28,618
I know.

456
00:33:28,618 --> 00:33:35,338
I've heard about that. I was told that happens in our county, but I assure you it does not.

457
00:33:36,078 --> 00:33:42,458
So our indoor boxes have to be tethered. Either they have cables or chains to something permanent.

458
00:33:43,178 --> 00:33:49,938
A lot of places have allowed us to put eye hooks in. So those are put in by our county

459
00:33:49,938 --> 00:33:57,298
department that goes out and puts in these eye hooks. They're inside, so you're not going to

460
00:33:57,298 --> 00:34:04,558
walk away with it. They have three locks on the fronts of them. The keys are only held by our

461
00:34:04,558 --> 00:34:10,778
people. Two people are sent out to pick up ballots. They don't touch your ballot. They take out the

462
00:34:10,778 --> 00:34:16,118
bag, seal it shut, bring it back here. It's not touched till it comes to the office. So those

463
00:34:16,118 --> 00:34:23,678
boxes are heavily monitored. Most of the places we use have cameras because they're save marks.

464
00:34:23,678 --> 00:34:34,298
their city halls, things like that. And then you have our outdoor boxes. Well,

465
00:34:34,318 --> 00:34:41,658
they're 600 pounds all by themselves. And then they're actually bolted to the ground

466
00:34:41,658 --> 00:34:48,378
and they all have cameras on them. And it's something we require. Now, some locations we

467
00:34:48,378 --> 00:34:53,218
put in the camera, some locations have asked for the box and they put in the camera.

468
00:34:53,218 --> 00:34:55,758
but we still have access to that feed.

469
00:34:56,658 --> 00:34:58,318
So that's not-

470
00:34:58,318 --> 00:34:59,278
I'm sorry, Donna.

471
00:34:59,578 --> 00:35:01,298
Are you monitoring those in your office?

472
00:35:01,718 --> 00:35:02,538
Is there somewhere in your office?

473
00:35:02,678 --> 00:35:05,218
Yeah, we can look at the film in our office.

474
00:35:05,518 --> 00:35:08,158
Now, again, the cameras are not code.

475
00:35:08,758 --> 00:35:11,038
That's something extra that we do in our county

476
00:35:11,038 --> 00:35:12,938
just for voters protection.

477
00:35:14,438 --> 00:35:14,978
Oh, that's cool.

478
00:35:15,258 --> 00:35:17,158
So every camera you have access to,

479
00:35:17,238 --> 00:35:19,578
so you can log in and see the activity.

480
00:35:20,218 --> 00:35:22,198
Yeah, even at a virtual nursery,

481
00:35:22,198 --> 00:35:23,558
but they already have the camera.

482
00:35:25,338 --> 00:35:26,078
That's interesting.

483
00:35:26,278 --> 00:35:26,398
Okay.

484
00:35:26,538 --> 00:35:27,378
Well, that's good.

485
00:35:27,478 --> 00:35:28,518
So 600-pound boxes,

486
00:35:29,038 --> 00:35:30,158
obviously we always see them

487
00:35:30,158 --> 00:35:31,098
like anchored to the concrete

488
00:35:31,098 --> 00:35:31,658
around the floor,

489
00:35:31,758 --> 00:35:32,558
but every one of them

490
00:35:32,558 --> 00:35:33,858
does also have a camera.

491
00:35:34,438 --> 00:35:35,058
And of course,

492
00:35:35,058 --> 00:35:36,938
you can't speak to all counties, right?

493
00:35:36,958 --> 00:35:37,798
But at least we know

494
00:35:37,798 --> 00:35:39,438
where we are in Stanislaw County

495
00:35:39,438 --> 00:35:41,258
that this is what's going on.

496
00:35:41,278 --> 00:35:42,798
This is how safety measures

497
00:35:42,798 --> 00:35:43,438
are being implemented

498
00:35:43,438 --> 00:35:44,658
when it comes to ballot boxes.

499
00:35:45,278 --> 00:35:45,738
And again,

500
00:35:45,798 --> 00:35:47,378
we are the only ones with keys

501
00:35:47,378 --> 00:35:48,578
even to the outdoor boxes.

502
00:35:49,278 --> 00:35:50,218
Just your office?

503
00:35:50,718 --> 00:35:51,038
Mm-hmm.

504
00:35:51,278 --> 00:35:52,018
Nobody else?

505
00:35:52,198 --> 00:35:53,758
Got it.

506
00:35:54,258 --> 00:35:54,438
No.

507
00:35:54,878 --> 00:35:57,158
So how does that collection process work then?

508
00:35:58,098 --> 00:36:08,638
So we have teams, again, background checked employees that go out in bands, teams of two, and they have a route where they pick up.

509
00:36:09,018 --> 00:36:11,598
They have the keys to each location they're going to.

510
00:36:11,898 --> 00:36:13,138
They have seals.

511
00:36:13,878 --> 00:36:15,358
They go to the location.

512
00:36:15,538 --> 00:36:19,698
They'll break the seal in the box, unlock them, pull the bag out, shut it.

513
00:36:19,698 --> 00:36:22,118
They have a little hook seal that goes into that.

514
00:36:22,678 --> 00:36:29,198
And then they have to write where they were, the seal number, which is also attached, the new seal they put on the box.

515
00:36:29,678 --> 00:36:31,638
And then that goes in the bag.

516
00:36:32,018 --> 00:36:35,798
They put a new bag in, of course, and then they bring that back to the office.

517
00:36:36,138 --> 00:36:37,578
It's almost like collecting evidence.

518
00:36:37,798 --> 00:36:45,158
Like, basically, you're writing down the chain of custody, like who handled it, what time, probably even the vehicle number.

519
00:36:45,238 --> 00:36:46,278
I don't even know if you do all that.

520
00:36:46,278 --> 00:36:53,118
is there ever a case where it's been like a very heated election, for example,

521
00:36:53,358 --> 00:36:58,898
and your people had to be like, you know, followed or at least had some kind of police presence?

522
00:37:00,518 --> 00:37:08,558
We ask the sheriff. So when you get closer to an election, instead of having everything

523
00:37:08,558 --> 00:37:14,998
ran around the whole county and brought back here, we'll have dropped locations. And we do

524
00:37:14,998 --> 00:37:23,078
ask for a sheriff presence at those. So there's a sheriff there. Now, sometimes observers will

525
00:37:23,078 --> 00:37:28,098
follow our people. And like we tell them, it's fine. Let them follow you. They're going to tell

526
00:37:28,098 --> 00:37:32,998
everybody that things were kept safe. So that's good. And they'll follow them all the way here,

527
00:37:33,398 --> 00:37:39,338
make sure everything got here. And that's fine. I mean, as long as you're not trying to steal

528
00:37:39,338 --> 00:37:45,038
something. They have a right, but I can see where there's... It did unnerve a few people, but

529
00:37:45,038 --> 00:37:51,598
they weren't there in malice. So it's fine. No. Well, we do have some conspiracy theorist type

530
00:37:51,598 --> 00:37:57,258
people who are... But as long as they're being respectful, right? They're not trying to impede

531
00:37:57,258 --> 00:38:01,718
anything. Right. They just made sure they took them to the right place and they weren't...

532
00:38:01,718 --> 00:38:04,718
Have your staff ever been harassed though by anyone?

533
00:38:04,718 --> 00:38:13,658
um our staff not so much in stanislaus county i know other counties have had real problems we

534
00:38:13,658 --> 00:38:24,018
had protesters um one time but um they just didn't know the process and so they had questions and so

535
00:38:24,018 --> 00:38:29,638
um that's what i find a lot people who are upset don't actually know what we do

536
00:38:29,638 --> 00:38:35,618
they don't know all the care that we take to process their ballot and make sure that their

537
00:38:35,618 --> 00:38:41,978
vote is kept protected. So it's, if you haven't had too many issues, it sounds like,

538
00:38:42,438 --> 00:38:48,858
as far as outside people can give you a hard time. Okay. Well, that's good. So sounds like you have,

539
00:38:49,378 --> 00:38:53,478
you guys keep track of chain of custody. There's, there's a, wherever you do have drop sites,

540
00:38:53,478 --> 00:39:07,487
you have them at least protected by sheriffs or any other law enforcement right How long would they sit at a drop site though before they taken to your office Oh they not at drop sites very long Sometimes election night takes

541
00:39:07,487 --> 00:39:17,527
a little bit longer because they're there and collect even from the vote centers. So vote

542
00:39:17,527 --> 00:39:23,967
centers, you can drop off your ballot there too. And you're voting. Now, voted ballots aren't kept

543
00:39:23,967 --> 00:39:31,346
there overnight, they're sealed up and brought to the drop boxes or to our office. And so

544
00:39:31,346 --> 00:39:35,646
they might be there a little bit longer on election night because they have to pack up

545
00:39:35,646 --> 00:39:40,666
all the equipment and they have to bring their scanners. So that takes a little bit longer than

546
00:39:40,666 --> 00:39:46,927
normal. Right. But once your people leave, those vulture trans, like they're brought to where

547
00:39:46,927 --> 00:39:47,706
they're supposed to go. Right to us.

548
00:39:48,427 --> 00:39:51,706
So you're just not sitting there indefinitely or for a few days forgotten.

549
00:39:51,706 --> 00:40:01,407
No, no, no. Oh gosh. Nothing's ever out overnight. No. And if you, uh, and anyone's invited to come

550
00:40:01,407 --> 00:40:07,346
and have a tour of my office, I'm, I'm very open about, I want to show you the process. Um, but we

551
00:40:07,346 --> 00:40:13,747
are in an old bank building. So we have a bank vault and, um, if ballots aren't being processed,

552
00:40:13,747 --> 00:40:18,867
they're in the bank vault. So they're locked up every night in a vault. So they're not like left

553
00:40:18,867 --> 00:40:22,166
out for anyone to have any access to.

554
00:40:22,166 --> 00:40:25,267
So, and the cleaning people don't clean the vault.

555
00:40:25,507 --> 00:40:26,727
Sometimes that's bad.

556
00:40:27,947 --> 00:40:30,626
But they can't get in, which is the point.

557
00:40:32,267 --> 00:40:32,747
Gotcha.

558
00:40:34,487 --> 00:40:37,566
Actually, you sent me some slides or pictures.

559
00:40:37,826 --> 00:40:38,787
Did you want to go over?

560
00:40:38,947 --> 00:40:43,206
Because those kind of give us a pictorial explanation of what you're talking about.

561
00:40:43,206 --> 00:40:43,487
Yeah.

562
00:40:43,806 --> 00:40:44,606
Maybe you go through.

563
00:40:45,046 --> 00:40:45,467
Sure.

564
00:40:45,626 --> 00:40:47,646
That always helps a visual.

565
00:40:47,646 --> 00:40:51,887
Let me go ahead and remove this and add the first one here.

566
00:40:52,287 --> 00:40:52,706
Okay.

567
00:40:53,527 --> 00:40:56,826
This is the life cycle of a vote by mail ballot.

568
00:40:56,927 --> 00:41:00,646
I hope you can see it good on your side because I have it kind of large on my side here.

569
00:41:01,447 --> 00:41:02,727
I can see it.

570
00:41:04,527 --> 00:41:10,606
So it talks about how the first step would be to check your signature.

571
00:41:10,606 --> 00:41:19,887
You can see below the little signature that there's a machine where we process the ballots.

572
00:41:20,027 --> 00:41:27,027
It goes through the first time and will attach the envelope to the voter registration so we can check the signature.

573
00:41:27,887 --> 00:41:29,887
And then those go back through that machine.

574
00:41:30,306 --> 00:41:31,566
They go through three times.

575
00:41:31,706 --> 00:41:36,867
The first time is to attach to your voter registration so we can check your signature.

576
00:41:36,867 --> 00:41:50,046
The second time is to remove the challenge ballots because we won't open a ballot until it's processed and available to the signatures verified and that type of thing.

577
00:41:50,806 --> 00:41:54,306
So if there's any kind of problem with it, they're challenged.

578
00:41:56,267 --> 00:42:02,527
Then they go through again and we do what we call a fine sort and we sort by our ballot types.

579
00:42:02,806 --> 00:42:06,546
This coming up midterm, there's 140 of those.

580
00:42:06,867 --> 00:42:11,907
And that's, we don't have to do that. It's not code. We do it. And most people don't know this

581
00:42:11,907 --> 00:42:18,686
either. If you want to recount, you pay for the recount. Um, and who pays for it? Who pays for it?

582
00:42:18,686 --> 00:42:22,206
Person that asked for it. Oh, the person that asked for it. Oh, okay.

583
00:42:22,206 --> 00:42:26,747
If you're a candidate and you ask for one, if you're a district and you ask for one,

584
00:42:26,846 --> 00:42:33,806
you're going to pay for that. And so we, um, we, we did that just because it was a practice that

585
00:42:33,806 --> 00:42:42,066
we had with our old equipment. And then in 2020, Waterford School District had a measure that lost

586
00:42:42,066 --> 00:42:50,527
by just a couple of votes. And so they asked for a recount. Well, we had way over 200,000 ballots

587
00:42:50,527 --> 00:42:58,027
and they had only 5,000 voters. So if we would have had to go through all 200,000 to find their

588
00:42:58,027 --> 00:43:03,146
5,000, it would have been an astronomical amount of money because they pay for it every minute.

589
00:43:03,706 --> 00:43:05,487
Instead, there was three boxes.

590
00:43:05,706 --> 00:43:07,887
We went in, we pulled the three boxes, and we did the recount.

591
00:43:08,967 --> 00:43:12,287
What would it typically cost someone to pay for a recount,

592
00:43:12,427 --> 00:43:14,367
especially when you're talking about 200,000 or 300,000 ballots?

593
00:43:14,927 --> 00:43:17,126
It depends on...

594
00:43:17,126 --> 00:43:19,767
Most people don't ask us to recount the whole county.

595
00:43:20,686 --> 00:43:25,106
Usually, if you're a candidate, you have your district, your area,

596
00:43:25,727 --> 00:43:29,387
or like Waterford, it was the school district,

597
00:43:29,387 --> 00:43:32,247
so it was just the little area for the school district.

598
00:43:33,146 --> 00:43:40,546
And so it isn't usually the entire county. Again, that bill would be hundreds of thousands of dollars.

599
00:43:42,306 --> 00:43:46,927
But for Waterford, it was a lot cheaper because everything was right there.

600
00:43:47,546 --> 00:43:52,526
And it also depends on what kind of recount you want to count. Do you want to put it through the machine?

601
00:43:52,867 --> 00:43:58,546
Do you, you know, what are you actually looking for? Do you want to see every challenge ballot?

602
00:43:58,546 --> 00:44:01,566
Do you want to see every conditional provisional?

603
00:44:01,927 --> 00:44:03,907
What types of things do you want to see?

604
00:44:05,427 --> 00:44:12,666
And so, but we've continued to do that process because most of the time who needs a recount?

605
00:44:12,887 --> 00:44:16,086
It's our small districts that have closer races.

606
00:44:16,727 --> 00:44:19,387
So, so we, so that's the next step.

607
00:44:19,666 --> 00:44:25,666
And then they go to our opener, which you can see the top persons prepping them.

608
00:44:25,666 --> 00:44:28,066
And then you can see the girl pulling the ballot out.

609
00:44:28,546 --> 00:44:32,867
And that cuts your envelope and it opens it so we can't see your name.

610
00:44:33,307 --> 00:44:35,467
And then your name goes one way and your ballot stays.

611
00:44:35,907 --> 00:44:36,867
Voting is private.

612
00:44:37,407 --> 00:44:41,767
And so we don't want to associate your name with your actual vote.

613
00:44:43,487 --> 00:44:47,867
The next set of pictures is the next process.

614
00:44:48,086 --> 00:44:50,546
So once they're out of the envelopes, they have to be flattened.

615
00:44:52,387 --> 00:44:57,307
Flattening is that takes the longest, has the most people.

616
00:44:57,307 --> 00:45:04,787
It sounds weird, labor intense, but we get over 200,000 ballots and they're either three or four carts.

617
00:45:05,106 --> 00:45:07,346
So it's a lot of pieces of paper to make flat.

618
00:45:08,206 --> 00:45:13,487
And when I say everybody in the office helps, I mean everyone helps flatten.

619
00:45:13,787 --> 00:45:16,467
People come from the clerk quarter division and help.

620
00:45:16,606 --> 00:45:17,526
My managers help.

621
00:45:17,626 --> 00:45:18,146
I help.

622
00:45:18,507 --> 00:45:19,387
Everybody helps flatten.

623
00:45:20,066 --> 00:45:24,066
And then once they're flattened, they can go into the count room and run through the scanners.

624
00:45:25,206 --> 00:45:27,007
Is it a machine that's used for that, Donna?

625
00:45:27,306 --> 00:45:36,646
Yeah. So you can kind of see in the, you can see the gentleman putting them through to be scanned,

626
00:45:36,646 --> 00:45:40,806
but in the other picture, you can see that there's several in a row there.

627
00:45:41,106 --> 00:45:47,526
So we have what I call pods and it's three scanners. They hook to one server.

628
00:45:48,387 --> 00:45:53,447
And that's the only thing that's connected is those three scanners to the server.

629
00:45:53,447 --> 00:45:57,387
and that's where the actual votes are stored.

630
00:45:57,566 --> 00:46:02,447
And we don't pull those, look at them, nothing until eight o'clock on election night.

631
00:46:02,546 --> 00:46:06,007
So we don't have any idea what's going on until then.

632
00:46:06,867 --> 00:46:09,606
But there is more steps to counting.

633
00:46:10,267 --> 00:46:13,427
Once they're scanned, we have to do what's called adjudication.

634
00:46:13,427 --> 00:46:20,467
And adjudication happens if you voted for a measure and you voted yes,

635
00:46:20,467 --> 00:46:25,046
but then you heard some other things about it and thought, oh, I should have voted no.

636
00:46:25,507 --> 00:46:31,767
You can cross off yes and mark no. If you look at that bottom picture where it says adjudication,

637
00:46:31,907 --> 00:46:39,046
you'll see two people are looking at that. We're very two people, four people oriented

638
00:46:39,046 --> 00:46:43,086
because you're making a decision of what the person was actually asking for.

639
00:46:44,026 --> 00:46:49,706
And then in Stanislaus County, we also look at undervotes. So if it said vote for five and you

640
00:46:49,706 --> 00:46:54,006
voted for two, we're going to look at that to make sure that everything was picked up by the

641
00:46:54,006 --> 00:46:59,487
machine correctly. And if you didn't vote for anything, which happens a lot with measures,

642
00:46:59,806 --> 00:47:05,146
then we're going to go back and just double check that there isn't a mark on any of those boxes.

643
00:47:06,066 --> 00:47:10,306
Do you contact those people? We don't know who you are, remember?

644
00:47:10,907 --> 00:47:15,506
Oh, okay. Right. Because you don't see, gotcha. Okay. Well, fair enough.

645
00:47:15,507 --> 00:47:20,686
pay attention george i'm just kidding okay did you want to go to the next picture

646
00:47:20,686 --> 00:47:30,807
yes okay oh that's um that's showing the security um so you know i i took the picture off that was

647
00:47:30,807 --> 00:47:37,106
a brown box because i hear a lot oh it's not as secure now as it used to be well we used to send

648
00:47:37,106 --> 00:47:44,046
all of your um items and bring them all back from poles in a brown box like literally it's a brown

649
00:47:44,046 --> 00:47:49,706
box. Now everything goes out in these cages that are locked and tethered to things or put in

650
00:47:49,706 --> 00:47:55,727
closets that are locked. And at night, your scanners, your laptops, they're all put back

651
00:47:55,727 --> 00:48:04,327
into these cages. Ballot paper, anything that could have any way of being used is locked up

652
00:48:04,327 --> 00:48:13,026
every night and then brought to us after the election, election night, most things.

653
00:48:13,026 --> 00:48:19,666
and then again it shows the boxes that i described the eye hooks um and then how big those outdoor

654
00:48:19,666 --> 00:48:27,686
boxes are well again you said those were like 600 pounds by themselves yeah that's and then after

655
00:48:27,686 --> 00:48:36,106
election day um during the canvas process i go out to the warehouse and i um now my warehouse

656
00:48:36,106 --> 00:48:40,206
manager has already checked every box when it comes back they open them and look at them but

657
00:48:40,206 --> 00:48:47,987
I go out and personally, I don't check every one of the 28 or more boxes, but I will go through and

658
00:48:47,987 --> 00:48:53,306
check every third one and just do a double check that we've made sure that we have all the ballots

659
00:48:53,306 --> 00:48:57,987
out. If you come by the office, you'll see me climbing inside that one out front because we

660
00:48:57,987 --> 00:49:01,967
don't take it down. And that's the only way you can double check. So I'm...

661
00:49:01,967 --> 00:49:02,306
Climbing inside?

662
00:49:02,806 --> 00:49:06,967
I made sure to wear pants that day, but I'm literally almost in there because I'm always

663
00:49:06,967 --> 00:49:11,267
worried that something's going to get hooked up in the top of it. And so I want to make sure that

664
00:49:11,267 --> 00:49:17,106
we've double-checked everywhere. So we do a lot of checking. Every once in a while, you hear in

665
00:49:17,106 --> 00:49:21,907
the news that a county found ballots and I'm like, oh boy, guys, you got to double-check yourself.

666
00:49:22,767 --> 00:49:29,947
What is the story behind that? Like, hey, we found another 100,000 votes, 80,000 votes.

667
00:49:29,947 --> 00:49:34,487
How does that come about? That's the one thing I didn't ask you. I was like, how does that happen?

668
00:49:34,487 --> 00:49:42,686
uh the last one they found them in a box like you didn't check your boxes

669
00:49:42,686 --> 00:49:49,467
that's why when they bring this back to our warehouse our warehouse manager has every single

670
00:49:49,467 --> 00:49:54,947
doors opened and they check every single one of them and then i go out and spot check uh you know

671
00:49:54,947 --> 00:50:00,727
like every third one i even look through all the black bags too because i never want to be that

672
00:50:00,727 --> 00:50:09,586
county that is like, oh, guess what? We found all these ballots. And I learned from my friend's

673
00:50:09,586 --> 00:50:17,367
mistakes. So no questionable overnight FedEx trucks just driving overnight out of nowhere.

674
00:50:17,947 --> 00:50:20,046
No. No.

675
00:50:20,586 --> 00:50:24,086
What do you think when you hear those stories, though, in other states? I mean,

676
00:50:24,106 --> 00:50:28,407
it just kind of doesn't sound real. You know, some things I can kind of see,

677
00:50:28,407 --> 00:50:31,447
Like they talk about, oh, they kept bringing in black bags.

678
00:50:31,606 --> 00:50:34,407
Well, our black bags come out of our boxes.

679
00:50:34,407 --> 00:50:39,046
So were they just bringing them from another room or from like a warehouse or something?

680
00:50:39,727 --> 00:50:42,326
But, you know, you have to explain things to people.

681
00:50:42,427 --> 00:50:46,006
Don't just drop something off, you know, explain why is this here?

682
00:50:46,566 --> 00:50:49,506
Don't do it in the cloak of darkness.

683
00:50:49,947 --> 00:50:54,367
You know, oh, we sent our observers home and then they came back and oh, magically, there's

684
00:50:54,367 --> 00:50:55,066
all these boxes.

685
00:50:55,066 --> 00:51:01,986
no you know you want to be open and transparent with people okay you guys are back now we're

686
00:51:01,986 --> 00:51:06,106
going to bring in the bags this is where they came from here's the you know sheet that tells

687
00:51:06,106 --> 00:51:12,467
you what is in there and why and you know you just have to be open and it's just it's just crazy

688
00:51:12,467 --> 00:51:17,947
because that's that's that's another i mean i know these are stories and and you know some of us can

689
00:51:17,947 --> 00:51:23,806
say hey it's possible maybe it's plausible but at the same time it's like we still hear these stories

690
00:51:23,806 --> 00:51:25,966
because, you know, some of these elections is like,

691
00:51:26,026 --> 00:51:27,806
everything looks like one candidate or whatever.

692
00:51:27,927 --> 00:51:29,006
It's like, okay, this is done.

693
00:51:29,206 --> 00:51:31,086
And then all of a sudden, three in the morning,

694
00:51:31,186 --> 00:51:32,666
we found another 80,000.

695
00:51:32,786 --> 00:51:33,367
It's like, what?

696
00:51:34,086 --> 00:51:35,706
I think that's where some people are like,

697
00:51:35,907 --> 00:51:37,247
this doesn't add up.

698
00:51:37,286 --> 00:51:38,086
This ain't making sense.

699
00:51:39,106 --> 00:51:41,046
And so it's, I don't know.

700
00:51:41,066 --> 00:51:41,986
That's why I asked you that.

701
00:51:42,026 --> 00:51:44,026
It's like, it's just very strange.

702
00:51:44,066 --> 00:51:45,706
But at the same time, you know,

703
00:51:45,747 --> 00:51:46,846
maybe we're just reading it wrong.

704
00:51:46,927 --> 00:51:48,306
Maybe we just don't understand the process.

705
00:51:48,686 --> 00:51:50,186
So you will see.

706
00:51:50,186 --> 00:51:57,786
So we report how many ballots we have left and that will change over the seven days because

707
00:51:57,786 --> 00:51:59,367
we're getting ballots.

708
00:51:59,367 --> 00:52:01,546
So obviously that number is going up.

709
00:52:01,580 --> 00:52:16,760
And you're counting. So, you know, it's going up that you're receiving them, but down how many you have left to count. So you might see that, but you understand why that's happening because, you know, we're still getting ballots from the mail.

710
00:52:16,760 --> 00:52:23,700
and especially the day after the election people love to drop their ballots off at the vote centers

711
00:52:23,700 --> 00:52:28,600
and you know we can't watch at night it gets you know we're here till two in the morning

712
00:52:28,600 --> 00:52:36,780
that's without counting them and so there would be no way to count over 70 80 000 ballots check

713
00:52:36,780 --> 00:52:46,340
all their signatures and do all that process that fast but that whole not understanding where they

714
00:52:46,340 --> 00:52:51,800
come from, I think is where the problems arise. And if you find them way after the election,

715
00:52:52,540 --> 00:52:58,380
then, and can mistakes be made? Of course. I don't want to say that these counties are

716
00:52:58,380 --> 00:53:04,420
totally wrong and they're doing terrible things. And could something happen? I mean, we're very,

717
00:53:04,540 --> 00:53:13,160
very careful, but we are human. Not that we want to admit that in elections, but we do a lot of

718
00:53:13,160 --> 00:53:19,720
triple checking here. And that's where I have that peace of mind because being on here, I'm

719
00:53:19,720 --> 00:53:26,100
going to tell you, I count every eligible vote. And I want to be able to say that with a straight

720
00:53:26,100 --> 00:53:32,500
face. I've checked my boxes to make sure that no ballots got left in there. We've triple checked

721
00:53:32,500 --> 00:53:40,580
signatures to make sure that they are compared and they're good before we count. I mean,

722
00:53:40,580 --> 00:53:47,160
we've checked all the under votes to make sure nothing got missed with the machine. And then we

723
00:53:47,160 --> 00:53:55,340
do a partial hand count also where we randomly draw from all over the ballots and make sure that

724
00:53:55,340 --> 00:54:02,400
every contest is counted. And then that double checks the machines too. So we have all those

725
00:54:02,400 --> 00:54:08,460
extra things in place. And that's how I have that comfort level of being able to say, yes,

726
00:54:08,460 --> 00:54:15,980
we've counted everything. We're very careful. What's the situation? I don't know if you've

727
00:54:15,980 --> 00:54:19,940
ever experienced this, by the way. I don't, but maybe you have some insider from what you've

728
00:54:19,940 --> 00:54:24,320
heard from colleagues or other people you know. How has it ever been handled? Let's say election's

729
00:54:24,320 --> 00:54:29,300
done, person's elected, yay. But then let's say a month or two later, it was like, hold on,

730
00:54:29,660 --> 00:54:36,420
something wasn't right. And we found whatever, ballots or didn't match up. How is that handled?

731
00:54:36,420 --> 00:54:42,260
Because I just don't recall in my lifetime where there's something like that happened, and then the person was like, nope, it wasn't you.

732
00:54:42,320 --> 00:54:44,140
It was this other guy, and then they get pushed in.

733
00:54:44,740 --> 00:54:45,440
How's that handled?

734
00:54:45,500 --> 00:54:46,500
How would you handle that?

735
00:54:47,160 --> 00:54:53,920
So I've never seen it happen where that would be the case.

736
00:54:54,280 --> 00:54:58,580
I know of two counties that have found ballots after the fact.

737
00:54:59,780 --> 00:55:05,020
Once an election is certified, it takes a court order to open anything and do anything to it.

738
00:55:05,020 --> 00:55:09,420
both counties have said,

739
00:55:09,760 --> 00:55:09,840
well,

740
00:55:09,840 --> 00:55:12,520
we found this many and it wouldn't change any of the races.

741
00:55:12,520 --> 00:55:13,860
So they didn't count them,

742
00:55:14,260 --> 00:55:18,760
which I don't know how I feel about that because I'm telling you,

743
00:55:18,800 --> 00:55:20,060
I count every eligible vote.

744
00:55:20,180 --> 00:55:21,220
Now they can't say that,

745
00:55:21,680 --> 00:55:23,580
but California had that,

746
00:55:23,580 --> 00:55:25,160
that rule where all,

747
00:55:25,240 --> 00:55:26,940
all votes should be counted.

748
00:55:26,940 --> 00:55:28,520
I thought unless I'm wrong.

749
00:55:28,520 --> 00:55:28,700
Yeah.

750
00:55:29,340 --> 00:55:30,120
But two,

751
00:55:30,240 --> 00:55:50,543
two counties have gone on the news and said that which would make me very uncomfortable That interesting But yeah I mean the one county found them so far after the election we were into the next one So yeah But if you do a recount

752
00:55:50,543 --> 00:55:57,303
and you find an error, it can change the election. So if an official recount is triggered, then that's

753
00:55:57,303 --> 00:56:02,163
different. But it's kind of strange to see someone who's been in office, let's say a month or two,

754
00:56:02,163 --> 00:56:04,023
and then all of a sudden, re-count?

755
00:56:04,603 --> 00:56:06,163
Like, what's the time frame?

756
00:56:06,243 --> 00:56:07,903
Because if every vote's supposed to be counted,

757
00:56:07,983 --> 00:56:09,543
and I'm asking this because I literally don't know.

758
00:56:09,663 --> 00:56:11,603
So I'm not trying to sound like an idiot here,

759
00:56:11,823 --> 00:56:12,503
but I don't know.

760
00:56:12,883 --> 00:56:15,763
So what's the time frame that is given?

761
00:56:16,283 --> 00:56:18,043
Because let's say you do find something

762
00:56:18,043 --> 00:56:19,243
two or three months later.

763
00:56:19,463 --> 00:56:21,323
Maybe you hear something, you look into,

764
00:56:21,383 --> 00:56:22,203
it's like, oh, wait a minute,

765
00:56:22,263 --> 00:56:24,843
we have 10 or 20,000 that were never ever counted

766
00:56:24,843 --> 00:56:26,123
for some reason or whatever.

767
00:56:26,203 --> 00:56:27,183
It's just making some numbers up.

768
00:56:28,183 --> 00:56:29,983
How, you know, is that possible?

769
00:56:29,983 --> 00:56:32,763
and then given the rules,

770
00:56:32,923 --> 00:56:35,063
would that person then lose their position?

771
00:56:35,463 --> 00:56:38,323
Would there be a re-vote or how would that work?

772
00:56:38,423 --> 00:56:39,183
What would be the next step?

773
00:56:39,863 --> 00:56:41,523
So it would be a failed election

774
00:56:41,523 --> 00:56:43,483
and that would kind of be up to the courts

775
00:56:43,483 --> 00:56:44,763
how they handled that.

776
00:56:44,843 --> 00:56:45,963
It would have to go to court.

777
00:56:46,583 --> 00:56:49,603
So a recount has to be requested within five days.

778
00:56:50,223 --> 00:56:52,083
So you have five days after an election

779
00:56:52,083 --> 00:56:53,403
to request a recount.

780
00:56:54,223 --> 00:56:56,543
You have to start it.

781
00:56:56,543 --> 00:56:59,143
You have to come in with a deposit check

782
00:56:59,143 --> 00:57:00,763
and then we start the recount.

783
00:57:02,583 --> 00:57:06,783
So that's kind of the, you have that timeframe

784
00:57:06,783 --> 00:57:09,543
because once we permanently seal the election,

785
00:57:09,543 --> 00:57:13,743
it does take a court order to reopen those boxes.

786
00:57:14,923 --> 00:57:15,523
Right.

787
00:57:16,303 --> 00:57:17,963
Now conspiracy time.

788
00:57:18,163 --> 00:57:21,583
So it does leave, it does, I know you're all, damn it, why?

789
00:57:22,083 --> 00:57:24,563
No, but it does beg the question.

790
00:57:24,563 --> 00:57:26,663
So like, what if, you know,

791
00:57:26,723 --> 00:57:28,723
there's a district that leans one way or the other

792
00:57:28,723 --> 00:57:30,803
as far as politics concerned.

793
00:57:31,083 --> 00:57:31,923
Let's say left, right.

794
00:57:32,763 --> 00:57:34,903
And those bags from that said district

795
00:57:34,903 --> 00:57:36,323
just happened to not make it.

796
00:57:37,663 --> 00:57:38,423
You know what I mean?

797
00:57:38,503 --> 00:57:40,283
And then all of a sudden, it's like,

798
00:57:41,103 --> 00:57:42,183
it's just they never got counted.

799
00:57:42,743 --> 00:57:44,603
But I'm going to assume also this.

800
00:57:44,623 --> 00:57:45,803
You know how many people are registered.

801
00:57:46,023 --> 00:57:47,343
So you'd probably be like,

802
00:57:47,863 --> 00:57:49,463
okay, we're kind of missing some votes.

803
00:57:49,463 --> 00:57:50,243
What happened here?

804
00:57:50,343 --> 00:57:51,603
I'm assuming that's what you would do.

805
00:57:52,263 --> 00:57:54,663
But what about that scenario in general?

806
00:57:54,963 --> 00:57:56,303
Because you can't speak for out counties,

807
00:57:56,423 --> 00:57:57,683
but just say that did happen.

808
00:57:58,723 --> 00:58:22,663
It'd be hard to say there's 200,000 registered voters in that district and we only got 70,000 ballots. You'd wonder. But in a primary, turnout's really low. So depending on your county, you might kind of be like, okay, we'll chalk it up to that.

809
00:58:22,663 --> 00:58:32,083
we are using that canvas time after the election to go through all of our boxes, to go through,

810
00:58:32,503 --> 00:58:38,223
you know, we even go through places where you would think there's no way there's a ballot in

811
00:58:38,223 --> 00:58:43,643
there just to double check. So, you know, they brought back all their unused paper. We're going

812
00:58:43,643 --> 00:58:48,403
to open those to make sure we count the paper to make sure they brought back all the paper.

813
00:58:48,403 --> 00:58:55,723
But we also look to make sure that they put something in here that's not supposed to be here like a ballot or two because they didn't fit someplace.

814
00:58:56,323 --> 00:59:00,343
That was more when we had poles because they were sticking everything in a brown box.

815
00:59:01,003 --> 00:59:04,523
But now everything goes in bags that are sealed.

816
00:59:04,883 --> 00:59:06,483
And so we're looking for those, too.

817
00:59:06,603 --> 00:59:08,383
Did we get all their bags?

818
00:59:08,543 --> 00:59:09,663
They were given two.

819
00:59:10,043 --> 00:59:22,386
We only find one Where their other one And so we you know looking everywhere for things um and and making sure that we have everything that was sent to a vote center back and double checking

820
00:59:22,386 --> 00:59:28,826
it to make sure that we've opened everything and that we've processed every ballot yeah and then i

821
00:59:28,826 --> 00:59:34,606
guess as you said if if that was found to be the case like let's see someone intentionally was not

822
00:59:34,606 --> 00:59:39,526
delivering a bag from a certain district or area, then I'm sure someone will be like,

823
00:59:39,586 --> 00:59:41,046
hey, we need to look into this.

824
00:59:41,126 --> 00:59:43,466
And then that should trigger a court order, right?

825
00:59:43,866 --> 00:59:44,226
Correct.

826
00:59:45,306 --> 00:59:46,066
It should.

827
00:59:47,346 --> 00:59:49,706
And you know how many you've sent places.

828
00:59:50,086 --> 00:59:51,886
I mean, we keep track of that.

829
00:59:52,666 --> 00:59:53,386
Well, you do.

830
00:59:54,206 --> 00:59:55,266
Sounds like you do.

831
00:59:55,666 --> 00:59:56,146
We do.

832
00:59:57,146 --> 00:59:57,786
All right.

833
00:59:57,886 --> 01:00:01,306
Well, is anything else you want to tell anybody about election integrity?

834
01:00:01,626 --> 01:00:03,346
I mean, at least from your perspective and how we can handle it.

835
01:00:03,346 --> 01:00:06,646
Because again, it sounded, when I talk to you and I'm talking to you now, you're on it.

836
01:00:06,726 --> 01:00:08,146
Like you're doing everything you can.

837
01:00:08,566 --> 01:00:13,046
And I get there's some things that could be out of control, but it sounds like there's

838
01:00:13,046 --> 01:00:16,426
a lot of systems and safeguards in place to also handle those scenarios.

839
01:00:16,926 --> 01:00:20,246
And I'm not trying to force you to speak for the counties or states, but you know, you

840
01:00:20,246 --> 01:00:20,766
hear stories.

841
01:00:20,766 --> 01:00:26,206
So I appreciate you giving us your opinion on that, or even just straight up fact as

842
01:00:26,206 --> 01:00:28,226
in, nope, it wouldn't happen because of this.

843
01:00:28,806 --> 01:00:32,646
Is there anything else you want to tell anybody as far as, you know, because primary is coming

844
01:00:32,646 --> 01:00:32,926
up?

845
01:00:33,346 --> 01:00:36,626
anything else or midterms? I mean, is there anything else you want to tell anybody about

846
01:00:36,626 --> 01:00:45,066
their vote? Make sure that you get your vote in. I hear so often, oh, it doesn't matter anyway,

847
01:00:45,346 --> 01:00:51,506
because there's LA. But when you're voting for Senate and Assembly, those are local.

848
01:00:52,106 --> 01:00:58,586
They're your area. We have a congressional district that, yes, we share with other counties,

849
01:00:58,586 --> 01:01:04,586
But if you don't vote, then, yeah, that other county is going to control it.

850
01:01:04,926 --> 01:01:07,226
And so you want to make sure that you vote.

851
01:01:07,726 --> 01:01:14,906
I use in my presentation, Sherlock School District, where the incumbent lost by one vote.

852
01:01:16,466 --> 01:01:21,226
And I always love to tell people what happens if it's a tie.

853
01:01:21,586 --> 01:01:23,846
And a lot of people say to me, will you recount?

854
01:01:24,086 --> 01:01:25,066
Well, we already counted it.

855
01:01:25,446 --> 01:01:26,386
It's a tie.

856
01:01:27,226 --> 01:01:29,786
And so really it goes to the district.

857
01:01:29,966 --> 01:01:31,066
We count the vote.

858
01:01:31,326 --> 01:01:32,286
We send it to the district.

859
01:01:32,966 --> 01:01:38,566
But the way a tie is decided is literally a flip of a coin.

860
01:01:39,346 --> 01:01:40,146
It's a quarter.

861
01:01:40,486 --> 01:01:41,586
They pick heads and tails.

862
01:01:42,166 --> 01:01:43,386
There's a little more tooth than that.

863
01:01:43,506 --> 01:01:45,066
You know, they check the quarter and that type of thing.

864
01:01:45,066 --> 01:01:49,426
But your person is decided by a flip of a coin.

865
01:01:49,926 --> 01:01:52,506
Or they can draw straws or, I mean, cards.

866
01:01:52,786 --> 01:01:55,986
And then it's decided by the suit and the number of a card.

867
01:01:56,386 --> 01:02:08,326
And so it's so important that you vote for your local people, including Congress and Senate and Assembly, because your Senate and Assembly in our state are making your laws.

868
01:02:09,466 --> 01:02:18,386
And so sometimes those laws come down and I go out and present new laws and they're like, oh, and I think, you know, I'm not a big fan either.

869
01:02:18,986 --> 01:02:22,946
You know, we're going to put as much in place to make this law safe for us.

870
01:02:22,946 --> 01:02:28,926
but you know this was done by an assembly person or this was done by a senate person

871
01:02:28,926 --> 01:02:36,786
and so you know that's why it's so important that you vote and you know I know that

872
01:02:36,786 --> 01:02:46,086
people are kind of weary because they hear so many bad things I invite anybody to take a tour

873
01:02:46,086 --> 01:02:58,188
of my office I happy to show you around I don have anything to hide And you can just show up at the front counter and say hey Donna said I could have a tour They kind of used to it

874
01:02:58,628 --> 01:03:05,728
They'll come find me and I'll give you a tour. And if there's some parts of things that you miss

875
01:03:05,728 --> 01:03:09,588
because of what time of day it is, I'll say, hey, that happens more at this time of day, come back.

876
01:03:10,408 --> 01:03:15,348
And because I want our voters in Stanislaus County to feel comfortable voting, I want them to vote.

877
01:03:15,348 --> 01:03:18,068
I want them to have their voice heard.

878
01:03:19,788 --> 01:03:27,668
I think what you said was important because people focus on who's going to be governor, who's going to be state controller.

879
01:03:28,288 --> 01:03:35,928
Like you're always thinking state level or even federal, but they fail to realize like if they don't vote that they're losing the representation in their own county.

880
01:03:36,648 --> 01:03:43,828
And so I'm glad you said that because that's important for people to realize like you could be losing your representation in your county.

881
01:03:43,828 --> 01:03:48,108
You could be flipping a seat in your county if you're not paying attention or choosing not to vote because you think it doesn't matter.

882
01:03:48,648 --> 01:03:50,468
But at the county level, it matters a lot.

883
01:03:51,128 --> 01:03:53,188
So, yeah, I'm glad you said that.

884
01:03:53,248 --> 01:03:55,108
I'm going to have to go take a tour because you said that I could.

885
01:03:55,288 --> 01:03:56,648
So I'm going to have to hit you up on that.

886
01:03:57,028 --> 01:04:04,948
You know, our congressional 13 district race has been won, I believe, twice by like 180 votes.

887
01:04:05,308 --> 01:04:05,668
That's it?

888
01:04:06,788 --> 01:04:07,048
Yeah.

889
01:04:07,528 --> 01:04:09,088
Wow, that is super tight.

890
01:04:09,328 --> 01:04:11,948
It's us, Fresno, Madera, and Merced.

891
01:04:11,948 --> 01:04:16,988
And even with the redistricting, I'm told that that race will probably be that close again.

892
01:04:17,808 --> 01:04:21,788
So that is why it's so important for people to vote.

893
01:04:22,228 --> 01:04:26,788
I mean, look how close that race is and you can make a difference.

894
01:04:27,788 --> 01:04:37,508
For anybody who lives in Stanislaus County that's watching this, is there a website or anything you would like people to go to to be able to schedule an appointment or you just want them to just kind of like call ahead of time?

895
01:04:37,828 --> 01:04:39,188
Yeah, they can.

896
01:04:39,188 --> 01:04:49,948
scheduling, they should call our administration if they want to schedule. And that's 209-525-5211.

897
01:04:51,568 --> 01:04:58,088
Or they can just come in. I'm here most days. This election, I have two mornings that I have

898
01:04:58,088 --> 01:05:03,268
to take care of some family things. But I usually say you don't have to necessarily make an

899
01:05:03,268 --> 01:05:08,228
appointment. You can call and say, hey, she's going to be here at this time. And if they say

900
01:05:08,228 --> 01:05:14,628
know come another day. But I always say you don't have to have an appointment because I don't want

901
01:05:14,628 --> 01:05:19,408
you to feel I'm setting something up. If you are going to have more than four or five people,

902
01:05:19,568 --> 01:05:24,948
you might want to call because our office is very crowded and it is hard to get big groups through.

903
01:05:25,908 --> 01:05:31,528
Gotcha. All right, Donna, I think we're going to end it here. That was informative. And again,

904
01:05:31,528 --> 01:05:37,548
appreciate you being on. So if there's nothing else, I'm going to say, hey,

905
01:05:38,048 --> 01:05:38,848
You know, have a great day.

906
01:05:38,888 --> 01:05:39,748
Is there anything else you want to add?

907
01:05:40,288 --> 01:05:41,348
I don't think so.

908
01:05:41,448 --> 01:05:44,408
I did my little soapbox about why it's important to vote.

909
01:05:45,748 --> 01:05:49,268
If people have questions, they can contact our office.

910
01:05:49,388 --> 01:05:50,788
I'm happy to answer any questions.

911
01:05:51,528 --> 01:05:52,228
All right, everybody.

912
01:05:52,348 --> 01:05:54,808
Well, I guess that's it for this episode, this show.

913
01:05:54,928 --> 01:05:55,608
Thank you very much.

914
01:05:55,688 --> 01:05:58,248
Remember to support, share, like, subscribe to Will to Blaze.

915
01:05:58,748 --> 01:06:01,208
And if you're in Stanislaus County, you want to take a tour,

916
01:06:01,208 --> 01:06:03,368
go ahead and get a hold of Donna Linder in her office,

917
01:06:03,588 --> 01:06:05,048
and she'll be happy to set that up.

918
01:06:05,048 --> 01:06:08,108
until then everybody have a great