FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (FOX26) — A Fresno County ballot initiative aimed at funding road improvements is now facing uncertainty after election officials found duplicate signatures during the verification process.
More than 32,000 signatures were submitted over a month ago to the Fresno County Registrar of Voters for the “Better Roads, Safer Streets” initiative. Supporters say the measure would replace the current Measure C sales tax, which is set to expire next year, by continuing a half-cent sales tax dedicated to road improvements across Fresno County.
Campaign supporters say they intentionally gathered far more signatures than required.
“We and thousands of residents and voters are so excited about this plan,” said campaign manager Andy Levine.
Levine said the campaign remains confident the initiative will qualify for the November ballot.
“We also know that we submitted absolutely more than enough, which is why we have so much confidence that this is gonna be on the November ballot,” Levine said.
Fresno County Clerk and Registrar of Voters James Kus says the campaign exceeded the minimum signature requirement by about 150%. However, under California election law, election officials first conduct a random sample review before certifying a petition.
Officials sampled three percent of the submitted signatures. During that review, duplicate signatures were discovered, lowering the projected validity rate.
“We took that sample, we compared the valid number of signatures in the sample to the full raw to see how does that compare to the minimum required. And that’s where the 104% number comes in,” Kus said.
Under California law, petitions must exceed 110% validity during the sample review process to automatically qualify for the ballot. Petitions falling between 95% and 110% trigger a full signature verification process.
“If you fall between 95% and 110%, then we go to a full count examination and that is what we’ve begun to do for this petition,” Kus said.
County officials must now review every submitted signature individually until enough valid signatures are confirmed.
“We need to review every single signature until or unless we actually reach that minimum valid signature count,” Kus said. “If we find 21,909 valid signatures in the Better Roads, Safer Streets petition, we can stop the count.”
The process is now raising questions about whether the measure can meet deadlines to appear on the November ballot.
County officials say state law gives them until August 21 to complete the full review. However, the Fresno County Board of Supervisors would need to approve placing the measure on the ballot by August 7.
“That is the date that we must receive a resolution from a local jurisdiction to place a measure on the November ballot,” Kus said. “That is definitely doable, but I cannot promise that we will make that.”
If approved, supporters say the initiative is expected to generate roughly $7.5 billion over the next 30 years for transportation and infrastructure projects.
Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer has previously expressed confidence the measure will make the November ballot. But if it does not qualify before Measure C expires, officials warn there could be a funding gap beginning in 2028, leaving limited resources available for future road improvement projects.