SacBee:

The Sacramento County elections office published sample ballot booklets last year with a number of errors: Omitted were a statement from a Sacramento City Council candidate and a list of endorsed candidates from the Democratic Party. Included was an argument in favor of a Rancho Cordova tax measure – where the opponent’s argument belonged.

The same year, Galt City Council members up for re-election received incorrect information from the office about their ballot order. The incumbents, including one who lost by a razor-thin margin, used the information in campaign materials to tell voters how to select them.

Current and former city clerks in Sacramento, Galt and Rancho Cordova say the elections office has become less reliable in the past 18 months. The problems, they say, coincide with a decision by Registrar of Voters Jill LaVine in January 2014 to reassign her longtime campaign services manager. California cities generally contract with counties to run elections, due to the high cost of voting machines and personnel. City clerks, therefore, must work closely with LaVine and the campaign services manager to try to ensure elections run smoothly.

LaVine, who was appointed by the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors in 2003, declined requests for an interview. In written responses, she said the number of mistakes last year was relatively small, “but even these few were not up to my standards. It was clearly a rough year.” She said the office has changed its procedures to prevent similar errors in the future, such as sending proofs to a larger group of people before printing.