(Justin Willis Reporting)
Voters in the 16th State Senate District will vote in a special election on Tuesday to fill the seat vacated by Bakersfield Democrat Marco Rubio.
The special election is between Republican Andy Vidak and Democrat Leticia Perez and is for Kings County and parts of Kern, Fresno and Tulare counties.
The Fresno County elections office wants to make sure your vote counts and avoid a disagreement over the voting process like that during the recent Measure G special election.
In the last special election, there was a little disagreement about procedure at the Fresno elections office, so County Clerk Brandi Orth wants to clarify the process to voters.
Questions and controversy lingered following the Measure G vote, forcing the counting to temporarily stop. There were questions about voter verifications.
If there were votes that didn't count, mainly, it had to do with absentee ballots; some voted twice, some changed their signatures, and some moved and voted out of their district.
Orth is pushing for voter consistency for the July 23rd special election and says there are things voters can do to make sure their vote counts.
1. Make sure your signature is up to date with your elections office, especially if you're voting absentee. It doesn't have to match, but it does have to compare.
2. If you moved, you need to re-register to vote, which will ensure you vote in the races you are eligible for. In the case of this special election, only a portion of Fresno County is eligible.
3. If you vote at the wrong location, the precinct officers can't verify your information and your vote goes into a pink provisional envelope. Those are then verified and must match what is on your registration card or the vote does not count.
It's not that an elections office has a vested interest in the outcome of an election... they don't. The vested interest is that your vote counts.
For more information, call the Fresno County Clerk's Office at 600-VOTE.