Brandi Orth

I have enjoyed and appreciated serving the people of Fresno County over the past 27 years.  I am particularly grateful to have served as your appointed and elected Fresno County Clerk and Registrar of Voters.  Heartfelt thanks to the staff and colleagues with whom I have worked and who have provided invaluable assistance.

I would like to share the information below with our voters, as a snapshot of the duties and responsibilities of the Election Process. This process is a fundamental bedrock of our way of governing ourselves, and upon which, our American way of life has been and will continue to be based.

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2. The Election Process at the grassroots level is intricate and complicated. For example, in this most recent election, there was not just the single ballot which the individual voter received, but 206 (yes, 206!) separate and unique versions of that ballot which went to individual voters in Fresno County.  Why so many? Because in this election, there were over 100 different issues and races in Fresno County, each occurring in different combinations of the 384 different precincts in Fresno County, totaling 206 unique ballots!  
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4. If questions arise or perceived errors come to a voter’s notice, or if a voter has a criticism or complaint regarding the Election Process, the most effective means of having questions answered, errors or mistakes corrected, or criticisms or complaints addressed, is…rather than going to social media, going directly to where the solution is. Start at the Registrar’s Office, on the Website (VoteFresnoCounty.com) or call us at 559-600-VOTE (8683).  The Registrar’s staff knows the answers, because they are the ones “doing it” day-to-day. 
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6. Sign up for WHERE’S MY BALLOT?  This is a free service which allows you to track your ballot’s journey through the entire Election Process. Link: https://wheresmyballot.sos.ca.gov.
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8. It is the voter’s responsibility, via California Election Code 2116 to inform the Registrar’s Office when the voter moves.  The Voter’s Action Request Form can be found at www.votefresnocounty.com.  Unless the Registrar’s Office is notified that a voter has moved, the Registrar’s Office has no way of knowing.
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10. In the event a voter should, for any reason, receive a Ballot Packet in someone else’s name, that Ballot Packet should not just be tossed away, but rather marked “Return to Sender,” or returned to the U. S. Postal Service.  Otherwise, the Registrar’s Office will think that the ballot has been properly delivered and received, and the incorrect mailing address will remain on the Registrar’s Roll, perpetuating the issue.
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12. Every voter in Fresno County should know that, unless a voter votes in person, every signature related to every Ballot Return Envelope is compared against the voter’s signature on the Registrar’s Office Rolls.  If the “Purple Envelope” is used, the signature affixed thereto is checked.  In the last election, over 320,000 signatures were checked in the following manner.  First, the authenticity of the signature is checked by computer.  Next, if the computer finds a potentially “different signature” from that on the Registrar’s Rolls, that potentially different signature is physically checked by a person against the signature on the Registrar’s Rolls.  Thousands of signatures must be checked this way (approximately 150,000), as people’s signatures tend to change over time.  If it is determined that there is a “good comparison,” then the ballot is counted.  If it cannot be so determined, a letter is sent to the voter whose signature is in question, giving that voter the opportunity to  “cure” the signature “difficulty.” 
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14. It is not I nor any registrar who made or makes the laws and the rules governing elections, it is the California State Legislature.  We do not make the laws, but we must implement them. 
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16. Make certain that your properly completed ballot is placed in the official purple return envelope sealed and signed by you before you place it in the hands of the person who is delivering it on your behalf.
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18. More than half the ballots (165,000) were placed in one of the 66 safe and secure, steel drop boxes to be picked up by properly appointed election officials, then were immediately delivered to the Registrar’s Office.

 

Thank you to those who have read all of the above information!

Though I am saddened to leave the Registrar’s office, I am appreciative, even blessed, in the comforting knowledge that the Registrar’s Office will continue its exemplary service to all of the voters of Fresno County. 

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Fresno County Clerk/Registrar of Voters Brandi Orth is retiring from her post after 27 years in service. She has administered 30 successful elections for voters.