SANTA CRUZ, Calif. -- Thousands of delayed vote-by-mail ballots finally went out to Santa Cruz county voters.
This comes after the Santa Cruz County Elections Office said a human error caused the mix-up.
On Wednesday, it was a busy day at the office as ballots slowly made their way back in.
County Clerk Gail Pellerin said 4,500 ballots didn't get out to mailboxes when they should have.
"We started asking around the office, and other people hadn't received their ballots, so we started inquiring with our postal rep, 'What's happening? Where are these ballots?'" Pellerin said.
She said the ballots came in trays marked with a green label letting postal crews know that it was urgent mail that needed to go out, but still the ballots managed to slip through the cracks.
"The trays were put into a metal cage and on the outside of the cage was an orange label, and our understanding is the orange label meant it could wait a week, so those ballots were still sitting on the floor at the San Jose plant on Monday," Pellerin said.
In last November's election, completed mail-in ballots got left behind at the San Jose post office and didn't make it to the Monterey County Election's office by deadline, even though the postmark was before election deadlines.
Pellerin said in this case, she's glad it at least happened before the election and those people still have time to cast their vote.
With new Post Office cutbacks, she said everyone needs to keep an even closer eye next time.
"We made sure everything was meticulously labeled," she said. "There was a human error that occurred and good thing we all did our due diligence in tracking, as we always do."
The Santa Cruz County Elections Office said if your ballot is still delayed, contact them right away.
The last day to request a vote-by-mail ballot is Oct. 30.
