Norco Election : Statements Left Out of Voter Mailing

Norco voters began receiving sample ballots this week for the November election, but because of an error by the Riverside County election office, the official packages did not include statements from the candidates for City Council.

An insert--with statements from 11 of the 12 council candidates--was printed. But it was accidentally left out of the sample ballot packages, said Frank K. Johnson, assistant registrar of voters.

“Human beings do make mistakes,” Johnson said Thursday, a day after the omission was discovered by a candidate’s campaign manager. “It was an inadvertent clerical oversight. In the process of handling half a million pieces of mail, it was overlooked. . . . It’s not really too big a deal.”

But the mistake is a big deal to some candidates--who paid $90 each to have their statements included with sample ballot materials. It also troubles Norco City Clerk Shirley Russell.

“I’m saddened by what I consider probably the worst mistake that could have been made. . . . You’re talking about a very important document,” Russell said.

“I really think they’ve done a disservice to the City of Norco and the candidates, especially the candidates who are not incumbents,” added Jo Ann Dickson, the council hopeful whose campaign manager noticed the statement missing from her own sample ballot Wednesday.

County elections officials were rushing late this week to mail the missing pages, first class, to Norco’s 9,324 registered voters. That will cost “somewhere in the ballpark of $1,500,” Johnson said. “We’ll absorb that cost, obviously.”

The solution drew mixed reviews.

“If the voters get them with plenty of time, I feel OK about it,” candidate Marvin C. Thornhill said.

“Under the circumstances, at least it’s fair. Because everyone gets the same treatment,” incumbent Councilman R. L. (Dick) MacGregor said.

“I’m not (satisfied),” Dickson said. “I felt they should send out complete new sample ballots with the candidates’ statements. . . . I wonder how many people will take the time to read those candidates statements that won’t be enclosed with the sample ballots.”

Russell said she pressured election department officials Thursday morning to send the statements immediately. “I have to be satisfied with their fix-up,” she said.