My name is Sarah Reith, and I am the news director at KZYX, as well as a contributor to MendoFever and Redheaded Blackbelt. I’m expressing my own views as a private citizen and a voter today.
Last week, all 53,000 registered voters in Mendocino County received Republican ballots for the first supervisorial district. The elections office learned the problem was county-wide on the morning of Wednesday, February 7, but did not issue a press release until 4:30 on Thursday afternoon. A slightly more detailed document landed at 7:30 on Friday night.
The careless ballots and the lackadaisical communication with voters are obviously a disaster for local democracy. On February 14, Assessor Clerk Recorder Katrina Bartolomie compounded the disaster further when she threatened to deny me access to her office if I asked the Board of Supervisors to terminate a county contract with a private company.
The contractor the county uses for its elections is called Integrated Voting Systems. The ballot error is a result of Integrated Voting Systems sending the wrong file to a third-party subcontractor who has not been named.
I began to research Integrated Voting Systems and found an excellent investigation by The Daily Sentinel in Grand Junction, Colorado. In 2018, Integrated Voting Systems sent out the wrong ballots to voters in Montrose County, Colorado. In 2020, according to The Salt Lake Tribune, Integrated Voting Systems sent out 13,000 ballots with missing signature lines to voters in Sanpete County, Utah. That article also reported a similar error in a municipal election in Sevier County. Last year, the Pikes Peak Courier reported that Integrated Voting Systems sent out 14,812 incorrect ballots to voters in Teller County, Colorado. In October of last year, GV Wire ran a story about the Fresno Board of Supervisors’ decision to terminate the contract with Integrated Voting Systems, due to its “spotty record.”
On the morning of February 14, I went to the Board of Supervisors chambers to ask for an agenda item to publicly discuss what had happened, as well as the future of the contract with Integrated Voting Systems. Ms. Bartolomie took a seat behind me, and I gave her a brief synopsis of what I had found. She told me I had the story wrong: that Integrated was not responsible for the error. It was the company that printed the ballots, or the anonymous third-party vendor. I told her the Fresno supervisors had terminated the contract with Integrated, and she said if this board did the same, she would quit. When I asked her why, she said, “Because I like Integrated.” I told her I was going to ask the board to terminate the contract, and she told me if I did that, she would never speak to me again. “You’re off my list,” she said.
I will not attempt to guess why Ms. Bartolomie prioritizes her personal feelings for a privately owned company over the democratic value of someone sharing information and an opinion at a public meeting. It doesn’t matter to me if her statement was an idle threat. She was clearly attempting to prevent me from exercising my right to free speech.
The elected official in charge of elections, which are the cornerstone of a democracy predicated on freedom of speech, threatened me with a professional consequence if I expressed an opinion she did not approve.
To my mind, this qualifies as a form of corruption. A public official attempted to discourage a member of the public from expressing a well-researched negative opinion about a private company receiving public funds. She tried to have a chilling effect on the press.
I am grateful to Supervisor Glenn McGourty for asking me what outcome I wanted from the agenda item. He reminded me that I have an opinion to share, not just a news-gathering request to make. I am heartened by Supervisor Ted Williams’ response to the heads-up I shared with the Board and the CEO and Ms. Bartolomie’s office before submitting this letter to MendoFever. He wrote that, “Effective communication with the press is vital, as it fortifies the bond between the government and its citizens.”
Mendocino County’s Chief Executive Officer Darice Antle wrote to in a prepared statement that the county “is working with the Elected Assessor-Clerk-Recorder-Registrar of Voters to ensure the people of Mendocino County cast their vote accurately.” For now, Antle says the County’s priority is “ensuring voters have the opportunity to cast their corrected ballots”. After the March 5 primary, Antle said the County intends to “evaluate the circumstances that led to this error and determine what changes, if any, need to be made in the future.”
I want the Board of Supervisors to terminate the contract with Integrated Voting Systems. As a voter, that would go a long way towards restoring my confidence in our election.
I want Assessor Clerk Recorder Katrina Bartolomie to resign immediately. She does not prioritize free speech or effective, timely communication. By aligning herself so vehemently with a private company, she is prioritizing the interests of a contractor over the integrity of our already botched election.
It is time to stop outsourcing democracy to the lowest bidder.
jesus christ, way to instantly ramp it up to 11 Sarah. People don’t need to resign every time there is an issue
An elected official hires a third party vendor with a track record of shoddy work. That vendor proceeds to provide shoddy work. Rather than reconsidering the vendor, this elected official defends the vendor and threatens to ostracize the vendor’s critics.
That seems right to you BassBird?
Its easy once a company makes a mistake to start researching and discover 3 other mistakes they have made. hind sight is 20/20. I just think its pretty overly dramatic to instantly go for “she should resign”. there are like 20 steps of escalation that can happen before that. People usually start with “She should apologize to me” or something like that
All it took to find Integrated Voting System’s track record of bungled jobs was a simple Google search.
Our elected leaders should be vetting these vendors with a fine tooth comb, spending our money wisely.
In the aftermath of Mendo’s ballot mess, Ms. Bartolomie’s continued loyalty to the vendor undermines her ability to facilitate accurate elections.
Name any competitor and I can kind you some way they have also fucked up. Plus its honestly pretty inappropriate for a journalists to be trying to create news like this. Professional Journalists don’t ask people to resign because they had some snippy interaction. Katrina is probably one of the most competent county employees and has given years of service, and you wanna end her career because in a moment of extreme stress she had a rude interaction with a journalist? Thats absurd
Here you will find all the ballot printers California has approved for Golden State voters.
You’re right: ballot printing is likely an industry plagued with human error and a random Googling of companies from the approved vendors list found well-documented ballot errors from two companies, K&H Printing Solutions and Phoenix Graphics.
However, there are multiple companies on the vendor list with no documented history of errors such as ProVote Solutions, Mailing Systems Inc., and Orange County Publishing Services. Wouldn’t you rather your tax dollars be spent on companies with a track record of success?
To your last point: this is published as an opinion-editorial which provides Sarah the opportunity to share her perspective. She has a right to her perspective as much as any commenter on this website.
Ms. Bartolomie has proven to be competent time and time again, but right now her professional decision-making is deserving of scrutiny.
What does it say about an elected official when they threaten to ice out a reporter for having a critical perspective?
No one wants errors to happen but some are bound to happen in an automated system. How many ballots or elections has IVS been involved in the printing for. I would be more interested in the error rate than the number of errors for all of the vendors.
Not excusing any errors or activity just being realistic
Threats of retribution against a member of the press by an elected official should never be ignored.
Really? You didn’t like her comments so you essentially call her corrupt and say that you want her to resign? She can choose whether or not she would like to speak with you based upon your personality, how professional or unprofessional she finds you to be… or anything. That’s her prerogative and her exercising her free will. Maybe it was your approach? Who knows? But to say that she should immediately resign from her position because you didn’t like that she said she wouldn’t talk to you anymore? sigh That’s petty. Plus, this is only your side of the convo. I’m sure she has her side as well. There are always two sides to the story in an exchange between two people.
These Letters to the Editor have gotten super childish. Lots of slandering of local people in a small town because someone’s feelings got hurt. Not cool.
Katrina’s comments are totally unprofessional and inappropriate. There is no excuse for her to bully anyone, especially a member of the press. Keep doing your job Sarah!
It’s hard for me to believe Katrina doesn’t require a proof before the ballots are printed. I hope we receive them before Election Day.
The mistake seems to be underestimated – this could really obstruct voter rights, and ramifications are potentially profound; it’s a catastrophe. Katrina is in the lead position, paid a good salary, and the professional who is perhaps most responsible for double-checking what goes out – so while I’m all for forgiveness, I think the onus is ultimately upon her. Lastly, if Katrina did behave as Sarah reports, then it clearly further undermines professionalism and taking responsibility; I don’t know Sarah (and I have met Katrina) but I was impressed with how evenly and balanced Sarah began this Op-Ed. I am frankly baffled by the commenters who simply want to shrug this off – we all make mistakes, but this is a real mess.
Whining while reporting?
this is a serious matter and something seems to be amiss with IVS…. mistakes like this when it comes to voting cannot be tolerated once. thank you Sarah for shining the light on the subject… and without expletives!
Be professional!! Do good work!! It’s our fucking money these idiots in the county are wasting.
For added context, I hope everyone listens to our elected official’s lackadaisical oops oh well responses in this brief interview 4 days ago:
https://www.kzyx.org/2024-02-10/ballot-misprint-causes-all-voters-in-mendocino-county-to-receive-gop-ballots-for-1st-district?_amp=true
Yes this was 3rd party error and we’re all human but the disinterested and unprofessional attitude of our elected Registrar of Voters in this interview alone is troubling. Then add in half ass press releases & FAQs and today’s veiled threats to Sarah Reith and now I too think resignation is appropriate.
Good reporting, thank you.
From what I remember, before Sheriff Allman retired Sarah was banned from his office as well. Allman too was a well respected elected official.
The ladies in the Clerk Recorders office say Sarah was very rude to them while their boss was doing her job finding out what happened to our ballots – they don’t want Sarah back in their office being rude! LET THEM DO THEIR JOBS – THEY DO AMAZING WORK and they have had a very good relationship with their vendor!
Really, amazing work? Let’s not get carried away here!
The Sheriff, like the Clerk Recorder Assessor, are public offices. Unless the person is a threat or disruptive there is no reason to ban a civilian, let alone a reporter, from a public office. Being rude isn’t a reason to ban someone. I think mendo locals really should dive deep to see the rot festering in their local gov’t.
Members of the public have every right to be in any public official’s office (at least the portions open to the general public) regardless if they are polite or not. As long as nothing escalates to genuinely threatening behaviour, people working for the County should just deal with it and go about doing their jobs. The simple answer is not to work for a public agency if you don’t want to deal with the public, even unpleasant interactions. Trying to “ban” a reporter for asking pointed questions (even if rude or impertinent) is egregious and unprofessional and we should all expect better. If Katrina is so petulant to threaten to quit over her choice of vendor, she shouldn’t have an issue quitting because she tried to threaten someone and chill their First Amendment rights!
We don’t know what happened during the conversation. We don’t know what was actually said to Katrina before she (supposedly) said that she wouldn’t speak to Sarah anymore. For all we know the writer of the letter dictated demands that the public servant felt were unreasonable or premature. For all we know she might have come across as hostile or threatening. Only whomever was privy or witness to this interaction knows. We don’t have all of the facts. It’s important to be cognizant of that.
Yes, public servants should be reasonably accessible to the public and press, but they’re in no way obligated to engage with people who resort to slander tactics or threats to do so – which is how some might interpret this letter.
A “news” reporter has no business asking a democratically elected official to resign.
When I was a member of the hospital Board in Fort Bragg, I engaged with reporters who had monstrous egos. Just reporting the news was too small a role for them. No, they would insert their opinions and sometimes outright falsehoods into their coverage to steer the agenda or to heroically beat the hell out of straw men. And they are not above threatening public officials with negative publicity.
Not saying that’s the case here. But I am very leery of reporters who inject themselves personally into issues that they asked to cover with as much objectivity as possible.
It’s disappointing to find “she said. …she said” as news. Proof of words, is hard to validate. And the promotion of other members of board, for taking a reporters side, is changing public perception of those members, before an election. Unbiased reports is best case journalism. A reporter using a different format to report frustration or opinion about comments? That’s a slippery slope. I personally had Ted Williams email that my opinion was mute, about an issue, that the board asked for publicly, before a meeting. The office apologized and said, he should not have done that. Every opinion matters, to the writer. But…I am not a reporter. I don’t have the platform to report. Nor the credentials. But my experience of a inappropriate response, was on paper, in writing. Reporters have more power to provide facts and sway the public. Reporters already have a podium to use. Report facts the best way possible and realize that, a reporter, isn’t the news. The news is government procedure and policy. Or providing good to excellent service, going to bad or awful service, to and for, the people. Or breaking laws. The vendor will be identified. But a printing company makes mistakes too. Unless there is a proven conspiricy here, the news is already out. The public already knows the ballots are messed up. What the public needs to know, is how do they vote now? How does their vote get counted correctly and how is the office fixing this current issue? Because this is a totally a Public Broadcasting Announcement that is supposed to exist. The Ukiah Daily Journal and every media should print and put on social media…FOR FREE…to cover the entire Mendocino county on how to vote correctly. That is what Mendofever does. It gives free access to information. Thank you for that.
The contractor is responsible for ANY sub contractors they hire under the contract with the county. It is right in the contract. All contractors who subcontract are required to provide a list of said sub contractors to the county for approval. Bet that NEVER happens and bet NOONE, not even the over paid and over staffed County Counsel office bothers to enforce that term. Why have laws, terms, policies when there is NO accountability. NONE. No consequences, NONE. Do a public request act for a list of all sub contractors for all current county contracts. Want to guess how many will be on the list? ZERO
Good reporting/opinion-sharing, Sarah, thank you.
I find it odd that she would quit if the board terminates the contract…why would she care so much as to leave her career for some private company?
Old dog doesn’t want to learn new tricks.
Thank you for reporting on this. It is always newsworthy when public officials threaten to freeze out the press: an integral part of a functioning democracy is the public accountability of those in office. While public officials have the right to defend themselves on record, their actions to discourage substantive reporting, or the protected public actions of a private citizen, on obviously important issues is an indication that they do not feel the need to be responsible nor accountable to the constituency they are supposed to serve.
Interesting enough the reporter has the information conflicting with the county press release. Guess error are easily made even by the press.
I understand your frustration. Working with a problem concerning the CEO and her lack of any respect for our county Veterans I have witnessed how the BOS does NOT stand up for their voters. They will not even answer basic questions. They bow down to this CEO who is suppose to work for them. It appears that there are several people who control our BOS. Don’ expect anthing but empty promises ftom them
AHEM
“The company hired by more than a third of the counties in Colorado to print ballots for their primary elections is connected to a California man who has a history of not paying taxes or debts, has significant judgments levied against his businesses in court over the years, and appears to still be active in the company.
Eric Kozlowski, who started Integrated Voting Solutions, filed for bankruptcy in September 2016, the same month the businesses he was connected to were registered to his daughter, who was 19 years old at the time. One of those businesses began operating under a slightly new name — Integrated Voting Systems.”
https://www.gjsentinel.com/news/western_colorado/behind-those-bungled-ballots/article_d2602634-986d-11e8-a805-10604b9ffe60.html
Threatening to quit your position because you have an affinity towards some sketchy company warrants legit concerns. But hey, this is Mendo county and if we can botch things up on a County level… chances are we will.
I am hearing the vendor will pay for the reprinting of current ballots. But a much greater cost will be the labor performed by the elections office in fielding calls dealing with double ballots, and sifting through correct and incorrect ballots for thousands of people. That cost will dwarf the reprinting fee. The County will likely have a huge cost to fix the problem, and should be filing suit or requesting the vendor to pay this extra cost. Our supervisors and elections officer must be held accountable for the responsibility of requesting County labor reimbursement for this looming cost to the taxpayers.
Just curious how many other citizens got Republican ballots? (because I was registered Green Party).
If only I saw the beginning of the story… I guess I was too shocked by the corruption…
Great End quote, by the way.
“It is time to stop outsourcing democracy to the lowest bidder.”
Everyone. I’m registered Democrat in district 5 and received a Republican ballot for district 1. We all got the same one.
Congratulations to Sarah Reith for doing some good reporting on this developing story. Someone should be held accountable for this mistake. When elections officials can skirt responsibility for massive blunders by blaming vendors, we are setting the stage for more mail-in ballot disasters.
Unfortunately, using mail-in voting for everyone guarantees we will have more slip-ups like this one. Human error is a possibility in any system, which is why systems should be designed to minimize the possibility of failure due to human error.
I am the only candidate in the District 2 congressional race to have signed the election integrity pledge from the Marin Election Integrity Committee, which seeks a return to single-day, in-person voting for everyone able to do so.
I got the correct ballot today and what do you know… another mistake. There was no “I Voted” sticker and it’s a crying shame. Think someone should report on that.
Thank you for the article, Sarah!
An opionion is just hearsay unless the author has undisputable facts as to the conversation that alledgedly took place between the author and official in question. Mistakes happen, learn from it and go on but, do not burn a person at the stake for attempting to do the right thing in a leftist county.
Did she try to do the right thing?
There is no reason to believe otherwise
Yes ramped up indeed.
“expressing her own views”
Subjective not really news is it people?