Riverside County mails out 5,000 duplicate ballots to some voters by mistake

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, Calif. - If you are a registered voter in Riverside County, you may be wondering why you received two ballots in your mailbox. 

It's because around 5,000 duplicate ballots were mistakenly mailed out to some voters in the areas of Canyon Lake, Menifee, Murrieta, Wildomar, and Winchester, the registrar's office confirms.

It happened due to a computer system error, which was identified over the weekend and has since been corrected, officials said.

"It is important to note that none of the duplicate ballots will result in a voter being able to cast more than one ballot," said Registrar of Voters Rebecca Spencer. "I take election integrity seriously and apologize for the inconvenience."

Anyone who received two ballots should vote and return one of the ballots, then destroy the second ballot, officials said. Only one ballot will count as the voter's record is automatically locked after the individual bar code on the ballot envelope is scanned. Officials said it does not matter which ballot is returned since both are the same. 

Voters with questions can contact the Riverside County Registrar of Voters at 951-486-7200