Paul Payne

  Sonoma County elections officials were scrambling Friday after discovering that hundreds of notices to registered voters not affiliated with a state-recognized political party were postmarked after a deadline to request ballots for the presidential primary. Notices received this week by about 800 voters set an April 15 cutoff to choose a mail-in ballot from one of three recognized parties allowing crossovers — the American Independent, Democratic and Libertarian parties. However, because of a technical error, the notices hit mailboxes after the deadline, causing many people to fear they would not be able to vote June 7. Frantic calls poured […]