www.montereycountynow.com SEPTEMBER 17-23, 2026 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 13 Last November, some 11.5 million California voters showed up to vote in a special election on redistricting. Prop. 50 was the Democratic State Legislature’s answer to a GOP-friendly redistricting process in Texas. In California, 64 percent of voters offered a resounding yes to a left-leaning gerrymandering equivalent. In Monterey County, 108,443 voters cast ballots in the special election, 69 percent of them voting yes. In much larger Riverside County, 56 percent of voters said yes to Prop. 50. Most of the 656,500-plus ballots cast there were seized in March by Sheriff Chad Bianco— also a gubernatorial candidate at the time—who claimed that election observers reported a discrepancy of more than 30,000 ballots. Four voters whose ballots were seized, and the California Attorney General, sued Bianco and Riverside County Registrar of Voters Art Tinoco. “The proceedings in this case raise critical issues regarding our democracy and election integrity,” according to the voters’ suit. “California law prescribes strict procedures as to who is permitted to handle ballots, the process for recounts and auditing of election results, the chain of custody of ballots, and who is legally authorized to count ballots.” The case went to the California Supreme Court on Aug. 24 for oral arguments. The case was accompanied by a friend-of-the-court brief filed by Monterey and Santa Clara counties, plus five county election officials elsewhere in California. They argued that allowing Bianco’s criminal intervention to stand would set a dangerous precedent for other counties. “Rather than bolster confidence in the results of the 2025 election, a recount conducted by untrained sheriff’s deputies could sow further distrust in the electoral process,” the brief states. “Conducting any sort of recount of ballots requires expertise in election administration. [Election officials] are approved, trained, and sworn for a reason: they have the sole responsibility of maintaining the ballot chain of custody.” I was curious about the chain of custody—not just because of this case, in which the County of Monterey is a participant, but because it’s part of a trend. The latest antics nationally involve new rules from the Trump administration to make the Postal Service’s role in moving ballots far more hands-on. (The Supreme Court struck down that plan in a Sept. 14 ruling.) Monterey County Registrar of Voters Gina Martinez prizes transparency, and agreed to show me around. A public observation area of glass panels (with mesh up top to allow sound through) invites anyone to watch any part of the process at the Salinas office of the County Elections Department. It’s transparent, but ballots are secret and the process is designed to manage both. “There are so many layers of security,” Martinez says. That starts with printed markings on envelopes that are unique to each voter. “If you call me and say, ‘I never got it,’ or ‘my dog ate it,’ I reissue you a ballot. It has your voter ID and an envelope ID that is different than the original.” The idea is to ensure just one ballot is counted for this dog-ate-my-ballot voter. The first step for accepting returned ballots is verifying signatures (this does not reveal the votes inside—and you can go hang out behind that glass partition to watch). Every signature is reviewed and validated by a human. If it doesn’t appear to match what’s on file, more humans look. If it’s still not matching, they call you. “A good security measure we have in place is we actually reach out to our voters and work with them,” Martinez says. By the time ballots are ready to be scanned, no names are attached. Tabulation can then begin after the polls close on Election Day. Any questions are reviewed by a team of two humans (also visible through glass) to interpret what a voter meant if, for instance, there’s a cross-out. Ballots from 219,000 registered voters move through this system, tracked and marked so election officials know which tabulator counted each one. “We have to keep it incredibly well organized,” Martinez says. This is the system Martinez and her team aim to show the public openly, so that voters believe their ballot has been counted—even in the face of various attempts to undermine that trust. Sara Rubin is the Weekly’s editor. Reach her at sara@montereycountynow.com. Campaign Season This election season, the voting process itself takes the spotlight. By Sara Rubin DOUBLE TAKE…Election season 2026 is in full swing, but that doesn’t mean it’s too soon to start gearing up for 2028. Squid came across a shiny new website for Bryan Hoskins, who has spent more than 25 years working in the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office. (After an extensive career in investigations, he got fired in a bit of an overtime scandal, then sued the County of Monterey—and got his job back, offering some vindication—but he’s clearly not done waging battle with the powers that be, declaring his candidacy against his boss, Sheriff Tina Nieto, two years before her six-year term ends.) Squid is always ready to settle in to watch a long campaign, but as Squid started looking at bryanforsheriff2028.com, Squid thought something looked eerily familiar. Had Squid seen that photo somewhere before? A quick search took Squid back to a Monterey County Weekly story about Nieto with a photo that, to Squid’s eyes, appears almost identical—the lean on the desk, the hat and jacket hanging on the coat rack behind the left shoulder, the light shining through the blinds in the background. It is a remarkable likeness. One thing that’s a little bit different from the Nieto original is the gold stars on Hoskins’ collar appear slightly blurry. But still, Squid counted four—interesting, because the four-star insignia is for the sheriff only. Perhaps Hoskins wore Nieto’s uniform for a photo shoot in her office, but as they say in criminal investigations, the simplest answer is usually the best answer. In this case, Squid best guess is AI. SHALLOW DIVE…Squid would like to say that Squid remembers oozing around Lake El Estero in Monterey and enjoying the local flora and fauna and the sun shimmering off its surface, but it’s been a while since there was enough water for that. Weeds have been growing en masse. The last time Squid oozed by to go out for a paddleboat ride, not only was the lake an eyesore (and stinky), Squid saw that lakefront business El Estero Boating had temporarily shuttered due to the underwater overgrowth. A sign posted out front read, “It’s Monterey’s job to maintain Lake El Estero and it has not for two years…This forced our business to close, a loss of revenue for our business and also the City who we rent from.” It added that the business owners had to lay off their four employees. The sign noted they may possibly be able to reopen after winter rainfall. According to the sign, the City of Monterey is seeking permits to clear the weeds, but that could take awhile. In the meantime, Squid may just hop into what little water there is and put Squid’s tentacles to good use, but the waterfowl guano and smell may be just a bit too much even for Squid. THE LOCAL SPIN SQUID FRY THE MISSION OF MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY IS TO INSPIRE INDEPENDENT THINKING AND CONSCIOUS ACTION, ETC. “We actually reach out to our voters and work with them.” SEND SQUID A TIP: squid@montereycountynow.com
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