Around 100 Proposition 50 ballots discovered at Sacramento-area homeless camp

By Brady Halbleib

Around 100 ballots for the November special election on Proposition 50 were discovered at a homeless encampment in Sacramento County on Wednesday, officials said.

The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office said the ballots were found mixed in with a large pile of stolen mail during an abatement near Elder Creek and Mayhew Roads, just east of the south Sacramento area. The camp was vacant when authorities arrived, and no arrests have been made.

The stolen mail was collected and separated, with all election materials returned to the Sacramento County elections office.

County officials said that incidents like this are rare, but they have procedures in place to ensure voters can still cast their ballots.

“Whenever something like this happens, we work quickly to address it and make sure all of the affected voters have the information and materials they need to cast their vote,” county spokesperson Ken Casparis said.

The discovery comes less than a week after a similar incident in Woodland, where authorities reported dozens of ballots stolen from cluster mailboxes. In that case, 135 voters were affected, and the Yolo County elections office has since issued replacement ballots.

Sacramento County officials say they will take the same steps by voiding the stolen ballots and mailing new ones to the registered voters’ addresses.

Meanwhile, investigators are asking anyone with information about the stolen mail to contact the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office.

California voters on November 4 will decide whether to pass or deny Proposition 50, placed on the ballot by the state legislature and backed by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. The measure would authorize state lawmakers to redraw the state’s congressional districts in an effort to send more Democrats to Congress.

It’s a move aimed at countering President Trump’s push for Texas’ recent redistricting, which favors Republicans in next year’s midterms.