Jesse Salinas, Yolo County registrar of voters, recounts Woodland mail theft incident
By KATYA OKS — city@theaggie.org
On Oct. 8, a mail theft incident was reported in Woodland, which impacted several Cluster Box Units (CBUs) ahead of the California Special Election.
CBUs, or “community mailboxes,” are defined as “a centralized unit of individually locked compartments for the delivery and collection of mail,” according to the United States Postal Service (USPS).
Jesse Salinas, the Yolo County assessor, clerk, recorder and registrar of voters, shared how his office found out about the incident.
“We were contacted on a Wednesday afternoon [by USPS], that, earlier that morning, there was a break into a cluster mailbox,” Salinas said. “There were a number of items — not just ballots — that were left in parts of the community and found in other locations.”
As soon as the Yolo County office found out, Salinas and his team began to work directly with the USPS to determine the impacted neighborhoods. Through this process, they were able to find the number of registered voters who were impacted by the incident.
“Four CBUs, covering 61 addresses, were broken into, impacting approximately 135 registered voters; “The impacted CBUs serve “800–1120 Shiloh Ct.”; “237–268 Pearl Ct/Way”; “236–261 Carlsbad Pl.”; and “300–341 Pinnacles Dr.,” according to the official Yolo County website.
Authorities recovered 30 damaged ballots in partnership with local law enforcement, according to CBS News.
“A sprinkler probably got on [the discarded ballots], and they became wet and unusable,” Salinas said.
Salinas, through discussion with the local Postal Service in Woodland, explained why this might have been the case.
“When these break-ins happen, the ballot mail information is really just a residual of what [perpetrators] are really looking for,” Salinas said. “They’re looking for credit cards, other helpful information to do other shenanigans, for lack of a better term, [which is] why they typically discard the ballots.”
In response to the incident, Salinas and his team began to reach out to voters through their phone numbers, which were registered in their database. For the many others whom the office could not reach — around 105 voters — Salinas’ team created a new strategy.
“We drafted a letter that came from [our office], and we sent them new ballots, replacement ballots, while voiding the original ones,” Salinas said. “What was pretty impressive is that we did all of that within a 24-hour period.”
Salinas expressed that such a quick turnaround was only possible with the relationships the Elections Office had built with the Woodland Postal Service and the efficiency of the team.
“I have to thank the Postal Service — they contacted us right away, they were able to provide the addresses that were impacted, and then they went out and actually hand delivered the replacement ballots,” Salinas said. “I would like to thank my staff. I was out of town, but they contacted me, [and] we developed a game plan. They then executed that response plan very quickly.”
Salinas also discussed how a quick and efficient response from the Yolo County Elections office was necessary, given that the mail ballot theft occurred so close to the date of the California Special Election for Proposition 50. He noted how, in addition to a partnership with local law enforcement and the postal service, the location of the incident had a huge impact in executing such a rapid response.
“We’re fortunate; we actually have one of the major regional distribution centers in the entire state, right here [in West Sacramento],” Salinas said. “That allows for a quicker turnaround [for] us being able to get our materials through.”
He also mentioned that the size of the county aided in the quick turnaround.
“I’m not sure you can get that kind of response in Sacramento or Los Angeles, because it’s so large, but we were lucky that we could have that kind of responsiveness,” Salinas said. “Because we are smaller, we can respond more timely and quickly.”
Salinas also discussed the importance of communication with local elections offices to ensure the impact of such incidents are mitigated quickly.
“If you know your mailboxes have been broken into, contact us,” Salinas said. “Because if you didn’t get your mail or you just put your ballot in the mail, and something like this happens again: That’s a problem. We want to be able to help address it and make sure your voice is heard.”
With the upcoming election, Salinas also explained the importance of registering to vote sooner, rather than later. He also stated that the Yolo County election office is partnering with UC Davis to make the process easier for students and community members.
“One of our vote centers will be open starting on Saturday right by the [Activities and Recreation Center (ARC)] ballroom, the weekend before election, […] open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.,” Salinas said. “We encourage people not to wait until Election Day to go and vote.”
Written By: Katya Oks — city@theaggie.org
