Fury as Humboldt County finds huge trove of uncounted ballots for controversial Prop 50 vote

A Northern California county has found nearly 600 uncounted ballots from last year’s controversial proposition vote, which passed and allowed the redrawing of districts in the Golden State as part of a nationwide wave across other states.

On Wednesday — nearly six months after Humboldt County certified the Nov. 4, 2025, statewide special election — elections staff announced it had discovered 596 sealed ballots inside a locked drop box that should have been counted before certification, according to the county elections office.

“The Office of Elections and the state have both confirmed that counting these ballots will not change the result of the November 4, 2025 Statewide Special Election.

“However, it is important that Humboldt County Office of Elections explore every available option to get these votes counted,” the county said in a press release.

County officials said elections staff moved immediately to follow established procedures after discovering the ballots, confirming the ballots had “not been tampered with” because the drop box remained locked and the ballots were still sealed.

The Humboldt County Office of Elections then consulted with the California Secretary of State’s Office to determine how to proceed, officials said.

Proposition 50 was on the ballot in the 2025 special election and was passed by California voters to temporarily give the state legislature the power to redraw congressional district boundaries.

The move was a strategic “counter-gerrymander” designed to help Democrats win more seats in the U.S. House of Representatives to offset Republican gains from similar redistricting efforts in Texas.

The measure is not permanent; these specific partisan maps will only be used for elections between 2026 and 2030, at which point the authority to draw maps is scheduled to return to California’s independent redistricting commission.

Now that the newly uncounted ballots were discovered, the state is trying to count them.

“We ask a lot of voters. We ask you to participate, to trust the process and to believe that your vote will be counted. 596 voters did exactly what we asked of them, and we fell short,” Humboldt County Clerk-Recorder & Registrar of Voters Juan Pablo Cervantes said, noting his disappointment. “We will be pursuing all legal avenues to get your ballots counted.”

The measure passed last year with nearly 65% approval, favoring Democrats by giving them an advantage in winning five GOP stronghold seats this year. Humboldt County — a low-population-density area in California — passed the measure with a 28% margin. In other words, 64% of the county voted to redraw the maps.

Even if all 596 newly discovered ballots were against the measure, it would not change the outcome of the election. Under California law, ballots must be destroyed six months after an election.

“This discovery highlights why strong systems, redundancy and clear accountability must be in place at every step in the election process,” Cervantes said. “In this case, those safeguards were not sufficient. That responsibility is mine and I am deeply sorry.”

It was not clear where or under what circumstances the ballots were found. The California Post has reached out to the county for further comment.

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