Officials in Humboldt County, California, found 596 ballots this week that went uncounted during the state’s 2025 special election to pass a ballot measure to redraw its congressional lines.
The uncounted ballots were located inside a locked ballot drop box on Monday, May 4, 2026, officials in Humboldt County wrote in a statement. While the ballots would not have changed the outcome of the statewide election, the incident reflects concerns Republicans have raised in recent years about election integrity in the United States.
Newsweek reached out to Humboldt County for comment via email.
Uncounted Ballots in California County
Humboldt County, home to Eureka in the northern part of the state, announced the uncounted ballots in a statement released on May 6. The ballots should have been counted by December 5, 2025, when the election was certified.
The ballots were cast during the November 4, 2025, special election, in which voters approved allowing the state to redraw its congressional map to turn several Republican-leaning seats into more Democratic-leaning ones. The redistricting arms race began in Texas earlier last year, when Republicans enacted mid-decade redistricting to draw out several Democratic incumbents.
“Immediately after the discovery, elections staff worked to ensure proper protocol was followed. It was confirmed the uncounted ballots had not been tampered with because the drop box was locked and the ballots were sealed. The Humboldt County Office of Elections then worked in partnership with the California Secretary of State to determine next steps,” the statement reads.
The mistake occurred after election workers checked the drop box, and there was a miscommunication about whether it had been entirely emptied. Officials are exploring “every available option to get these votes counted,” the statement said.
Proposition 50 easily passed by nearly 30 points, a margin of more than 3,000,000 votes, so the 596 ballots left uncounted in Humboldt County would have no outcome on the final results of the election.
Still, President Donald Trump said in a post on Truth Social that the vote was rigged.
“The Unconstitutional Redistricting Vote in California is a GIANT SCAM in that the entire process, in particular the Voting itself, is RIGGED. All ‘Mail-In’ Ballots, where the Republicans in that State are ‘Shut Out,’ is under very serious legal and criminal review. STAY TUNED!” he wrote.
Trust in Elections Declines, But Little Evidence of Fraud
A recent report from the University of California, San Diego, found that many voters are concerned about aspects of election security.
Twenty percent of Democrats, 35 percent of independents and 50 percent of Republicans are skeptical that ballots cast by mail are accurately counted.
Twenty-seven percent of Democrats, 25 percent of independents and 17 percent of Republicans are skeptical that voters can cast their ballots without obstacles, while 28 percent of Democrats, 38 percent of independents and 40 percent of Republicans are concerned that election officials engage in voter fraud, according to the report.
It surveyed 11,406 American voters from December 19, 2025, to January 12, 2026.
Republicans raised concerns about election fraud after the 2020 presidential election, when Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden. Recounts in swing states like Arizona upheld Biden’s victory but did not quell Republicans’ concerns about fraud. Concerns have centered around claims of noncitizens voting, but have also extended to questions about whether systems like mail-in voting could open up room for voter fraud.
Similar claims have popped up in the years since—Republican Kari Lake raised election fraud claims after her defeat to Democrat Katie Hobbs in Arizona’s 2022 gubernatorial race.
Lake filed lawsuits challenging her loss, alleging that the election was administered improperly, including claims that ballot printers malfunctioned and that election procedures were violated. Her lawsuits failed in the trial court, the state court of appeals and the Arizona Supreme Court.
Studies show voter fraud is rare in the United States, though there have been instances of it over the years. Data from the Heritage Foundation, which tracks voter fraud, show that since 1982, there have been 1,620 instances of fraud nationwide, most of which involve individuals with criminal convictions voting in elections.
Republicans have sought to address concerns about election fraud with the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, known as the SAVE Act, which would require Americans to present documentary proof of citizenship when applying to register to vote in federal elections, while also imposing limits on voting by mail. While it has passed the House of Representatives, it has stalled in the Senate, leaving its future uncertain.
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