Are holes in California mail-in ballot envelopes there so certain votes can be discarded? That’s what some social media users said.
“Gavin Newsom’s redistricting election is going to be RIGGED,” a verified X account, Wall Street Apes, said in an Oct. 9 post. “If you Vote No on prop 50 to stop the redistricting, it shows through the envelope. This makes it easier for Democrats to identify them and throw them in the trash.”
The post, which had 4.7 million views as of Oct. 14, included a photo of a vote-by-mail envelope. A small hole in the envelope showed a mark on the ballot inside.
Another post from the conservative Libs of Tiktok X account made a similar claim.
“If California voters vote ‘NO’ on Gavin Newscum’s redistricting plan, it will show their answer through a hole in the envelope,” according to the Oct. 12 post, which had 5.8 million views as of Oct. 14. “All Democrats do is cheat.”
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The Libs of TikTok post included a video originally posted to TikTok by Steve Hilton, a Republican running for California governor. Hilton said the video showed a California voter filling in the “no” oval on California’s redistricting Proposition 50. The voter folded the ballot and inserted it into a Sacramento County vote-by-mail envelope. He then tapped the left side of the envelope on a table. A filled-in oval became visible through a hole in the envelope.
Sacramento’s vote-by-mail envelopes have three small holes. They’ve had these for years. There are eight ways voters can insert a ballot into the envelope. Depending on how someone inserts a ballot, the oval voters fill out to cast their vote might be visible through the holes. But the holes don’t show the text next to the oval that indicates how a person voted. And the envelopes’ holes aren’t evidence of cheating or nefarious activity.
Two holes were designed in the envelope to make it easier for low-vision voters to cast mail ballots. The third hole gives election officials a quick view of an envelope’s contents to ensure the ballot was removed for counting. Only two of the ways voters can insert their ballots in the envelope might show voting marks. Voters can insert their ballot in a way that no marks are visible.
California Republicans have taken to social media to assure people their votes can remain secret by folding their ballots in certain ways.
“Please don’t panic people about something that is easily addressed by turning their ballot around. We need every no vote and we need them now,” the chair of the Republican Party of Los Angeles, Roxanne Hoge, who opposes the ballot measure, said in an Oct. 11 X post. Hoge shared a video of her folding and placing her mom’s mail-in ballot in an envelope so that no vote marks are visible.
On Nov. 4, Californians will vote on Proposition 50, which will determine the state’s congressional map. If it passes, California will redraw its congressional districts, likely giving Democrats five additional seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom is leading the ballot measure in response to Texas’ mid-decade redistricting effort, which added five likely Republican seats.
Sacramento County vote-by-mail envelopes have holes for accessibility purposes
Since 2008, Sacramento’s vote-by-mail envelope has featured two holes punched into the back and one punched into the front.
California vote-by-mail envelopes differ by county, so not all envelopes have holes and not all envelope holes reveal voting marks. However, the punched-in holes are considered best practice in the state, California’s Secretary of State office told PolitiFact.
The two punched-in holes on the front of Scaramento’s envelope appear on either side of the envelope’s signature area, signaling to low-vision voters where they should sign. The hole in the envelope’s front lets election officials know that the envelope is empty and therefore the ballot has been counted, Janna Haynes, Sacramento County Voter Registration and Elections’ public information manager, said in a video.
It’s possible to insert ballots in envelopes so marks aren’t visible through holes
There are at least eight ways voters can insert mail-in ballots into envelopes, according to Sacramento County’s elections department. Two of those might show voting marks through the envelope’s holes.
“There is no way to determine how a voter voted through this small hole,” the department said in an Oct. 8 news release.
The envelope holes aren’t large enough to show the filled in oval and the “yes” or “no” text showing how someone voted.
In the county’s video, Haynes recommended that voters who are concerned their votes might be visible fold their ballots so the text is on the inside. Sacramento’s ballot only has one question on it so the back of the paper is blank.
“If this is still a concern to some of you that don’t want to mail in your vote, we do have 31 vote centers that will be open for the Nov. 4 election where you can vote in person,” Haynes said.
She also recommended voters who vote by mail to sign up for BallotTrax, a service that tells voters when their ballot has been mailed, received and counted.
The social media posts claim that the envelope holes would allow for certain ballots to be thrown away. It is a felony under California law for election officials to tamper with peoples’ votes, including by discarding them.
“Our staff is dedicated to fair and ethical elections. Each employee is sworn in before they can access ballots to uphold a fair election,” Haynes told PolitiFact. “No single employee is ever alone with ballots. We have cameras and oversight in all our rooms.”
Our ruling
An X post said, “If you vote no on Prop 50 to stop the redistricting, it shows through the envelope,” making it easy for Democrats to cheat.
Sacramento County vote-by-mail envelopes were designed with two holes to make it easier for low-vision voters to cast ballots. A third hole helps election officials affirm that they’ve counted every ballot. There is no evidence that the holes are being used for nefarious purposes, and it is a felony for election officials to tamper with or discard ballots.
There are several ways to fold ballots and place them into the envelopes. Two of those might result in voting marks being visible through the envelope holes. But none shows how a person voted.
Voters can fold ballots so the blank side of the page faces outward, and no marks can be seen through the envelope’s holes.
The statement contains an element of truth; there are certain ways to insert a ballot into the envelope that might make voting marks visible. But the statement ignores critical facts that would give a different impression. The envelope design is for accessibility purposes and to ensure all votes are counted, not for nefarious purposes or to rig an election. There’s no evidence that “no” votes will be discarded.
We rate the claim Mostly False.
PolitiFact Senior Correspondent Amy Sherman contributed to this report.
Lisa Gillmor
