Oops: Ballots Go Out with Wrong Designation for Senate Candidate

The California Secretary of State admitted an error and that ballots will go out with the wrong designation for US Senate Candidate Christina Pascucci.

Pascucci should have a ballot designation of “Local Television Journalist”, however, on the ballot, it was omitted from all printed ballots and instead was replaced with “No Ballot Designation”.

Pascucci said her campaign has been dealing with this issue for over a month and issued a statement.

“Free and fair elections are a pillar of democracy. Given the importance of the integrity of the electoral process, I greatly appreciate the Secretary taking the unprecedented step of re-releasing the certified list, but it’s unfortunate this mistake happened and then couldn’t be fixed before counties printed ballots,” said Pascucci. “While it’s difficult to quantify the impact that may have, I remain hopeful. Our message is resonating throughout the state because we’re speaking to the issues California families are most concerned about: rising crime, immigration, homelessness, and the skyrocketing cost of living.”

“State election authorities must avoid these kinds of mistakes. Such oversights can determine a candidate’s fate and significantly alter election results,” adds Daniel Schnur, USC Political Professor. “Given that many voters are already disillusioned with the political process, how can they trust that their votes matter when those responsible for conducting elections are prone to careless errors? In an era where our institutions face challenges to their credibility and election security, these errors only exacerbate the problem.”

Pascucci issued the following statement Monday:

CAMPAIGN UPDATE  the CA Secretary of State’s office has admitted to a major mistake that creates a massive disadvantage for my campaign. My ballot designation as a “Local Television Journalist” has been omitted from all ballots printed for this election, replaced with “No Ballot Designation.”

It’s a huge deal because voters use the ballot designation to guide them when they cast their vote.

I’m going to be frank: This is bad and it doesn’t just affect my campaign, it could impact the overall results of this election.

Our team has been dealing with this for a month. The Secretary of State admitted “an unfortunate internal clerical error” and issued a correction via press release and on social media late Friday. That doesn’t fix the harm caused.

This is where we need your help!

Here is the press release issued by the Secretary of States office on the error.

Notice of Updated Ballot Designation

SACRAMENTO, CA – The California Secretary of State’s office is issuing the following notice of a corrected ballot designation for the March 5, 2024, Presidential Primary Election. Updated information will be listed on the Secretary of State’s website but will not appear on ballots or voter information guides.

The ballot designation of Christina Pascucci, candidate for United States Senator (both Full Term and Partial/Unexpired Term) is “Local Television Journalist.” Due to an administrative error, her designation was listed on the Certified List of Candidates as “No Ballot Designation.”

The full list of candidates and ballot designations for Full Term and Partial/Unexpired Term races is listed below.

• United States Senator (Full Term) Candidates and Ballot Designations
• Sepi Gilani – Physician/Surgeon/Professor
• Harmesh Kumar – Psychologist/Social Entrepreneur
• Barbara Lee – Congresswoman/Mother
• Christina Pascucci – Local Television Journalist
• David Peterson – Small Business Owner
• Douglas H. Pierce – Missing Persons’ Investigator
• Katie Porter – U.S. Representative
• Perry Pound – Small Business Owner
• Raji Rab – Aviator/Educator/Entrepreneur
• John Rose – Office Manager
• Adam B. Schiff – United States Representative
• Sharleta Bassett – Businesswoman/Mother/Farmer
• James Bradley – Chief Executive Officer
• Eric Early – Business Owner/Attorney
• Steve Garvey – Professional Baseball Representative
• Denice Gary-Pandol – Retired Security Analyst
• Sarah Sun Liew – Pastor/Nonprofit CEO
• James “Jim” Macauley – Sales Associate
• Jonathan Reiss – No Ballot Designation
• Stefan Simchowitz – Art Dealer
• Martin Veprauskas – Retired Operations Manager
• Forrest Jones – No Ballot Designation
• Gail Lightfoot – Retired Registered Nurse
• Laura Garza – Freight Railroad Worker
• Don J. Grundmann – Doctor of Chiropractic
• Mark Ruzon – Software Engineer
• Major Singh – Software Engineer

United States Senator (Partial/Unexpired Term)

• Sepi Gilani – Physician/Surgeon/Professor
• Barbara Lee – Congresswoman/Mother
• Christina Pascucci – Local Television Journalist
• Katie Porter – U.S. Representative
• Adam B. Schiff – United States Representative
• Eric Early – Business Owner/Attorney
• Steve Garvey – Professional Baseball Representative