![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/261008-SF-Ballot-Damaged-01-KQED-022c6390.jpg\")
<\/p>\nIf you\u2019re one of the San Francisco voters whose ballot arrived ripped, here\u2019s how to know if it\u2019s still usable \u2014 and when you need a new one.<\/p>\n
Oct 8, 2026<\/p>\n
Updated 11:20 am PT<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A damaged San Francisco midterm ballot that was delivered to KQED reporter Sydney Johnson this week. If the contents of your ballot show any sign of damage you can request a new ballot from the San Francisco Department of Elections.
\n\u00a0(Sydney Johnson\/KQED)<\/p>\n
Counties began sending midterm election ballots<\/a> to every registered Bay Area voter this week \u2014 but some San Franciscans are reporting <\/a>their ballots have arrived in envelopes that are torn or damaged.<\/p>\n In a public advisory<\/a>, posted Wednesday to the San Francisco Department of Elections website, the agency\u2019s director John Arntz told voters that \u201ctears in the outer mailing envelopes\u201d wouldn\u2019t affect their ability to use their ballots to vote in the Nov. 3 election, \u201cas long as all four ballot cards and the ballot return envelope are intact.\u201d<\/p>\n However, some voters in the city are reporting that the ballot cards inside their envelopes have also arrived damaged. One of them, KQED News reporter Sydney Johnson<\/a>, said she and her partner had received ballots that were torn on both the outer envelopes, and her internal return envelope was also ripped.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re concerned your San Francisco ballot materials have also been damaged, jump to what you should do now<\/a>.<\/p>\n \nWhat happened to these ballots?\n<\/p>\n Arntz attributed the damage to issues at the United States Postal Service, \u201cwhich indicated that the tears occurred as some envelopes moved through its processing equipment.\u201d<\/p>\n In an email to KQED, USPS spokesperson Kristina Uppal said that the damage to some San Francisco ballot envelopes was due to their \u201cthickness,\u201d meaning a \u201csmall number of envelopes may have experienced damage during machine processing.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cUpon observing the issue, USPS switched to manual processing for the remaining vote-by-mail packets,\u201d Arntz said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused and remain fully committed to delivering every election mail piece safely and on time,\u201d Uppal said.<\/p>\n Election officials have sent out more than 500,000 vote-by-mail ballots <\/a>to San Francisco voters, although it\u2019s not yet clear just how many have been affected.\u00a0<\/p>\n \nIf you\u2019re a San Francisco voter who\u2019s worried about your ballot, here\u2019s what to do\n<\/p>\n \nFirst, check your ballot envelope and the contents inside\u00a0\n<\/p>\n Arntz said that if you spot any tearing in your San Francisco ballot envelope, you should (carefully) open the envelope to check it contains the following:<\/p>\n All four ballot cardsA ballot return envelopeAn insert with voting instructions \u201cIf all four ballot cards and the ballot return envelope are intact, voters can mark their ballots and return them using the ballot return envelope provided,\u201d Arntz said.<\/p>\n Elsewhere, Arntz has described <\/a>the outer envelope as \u201cjust a package to give the ballot to people.\u201d In other words, once your ballot has arrived, you don\u2019t actually use that outer envelope again in any of the voting process \u2014 which is why its damage won\u2019t stop you from voting.<\/p>\n \nWas anything damaged inside? Get a new ballot\n<\/p>\n If the contents of your ballot show any sign of damage, you can request a new ballot from the San Francisco Department of Elections.<\/p>\n People across all Bay Area counties request new ballots all the time, often because they\u2019ve made a mistake (or just spilled coffee on them), so there\u2019s already a process to request yours. You can do that by:<\/p>\n Calling the SF Department of Elections at 415-558-6100Emailing them at [email\u00a0protected]<\/a>Logging into the SF Elections Voter Portal<\/a>Going to the SF Department of Elections in person during opening hours (located in Room 48 at San Francisco City Hall, open Mon-Fri 8 a.m\u20145 p.m., closed weekends and on Oct. 12)<\/p>\n You can also take your damaged ballot to your assigned polling place<\/a> on Election Day, Nov. 3, and vote in person at any time until 8 p.m.<\/p>\n \nShould I be worried about mail-in voting this election season?\n<\/p>\n The issues with some San Francisco ballots arrive on the heels of President Donald Trump\u2019s multiple attacks on voting by mail this year \u2014 a system which he has claimed, without evidence, is rife with fraud.\u00a0<\/p>\n In the last two statewide elections, Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Attorney General Rob Bonta urged voters planning to use USPS to mail in their ballots at least a week before Election Day<\/a>, to account for those USPS changes \u2014 and to get a hand-stamped postmark<\/a> from an employee inside a post office, if mailing their ballot on Election Day itself is their only option, rather than simply dropping it in a USPS collection box.<\/p>\n Some election officials are steering voters away from using USPS entirely, including Sonoma County\u2019s registrar of voters Evelyn Mendez, who told KQED that the county was \u201cnot really encouraging people to use the USPS to get their ballot here.\u201d<\/p>\n Instead, Mendez said, voters should use secure county collection boxes, which are now open 24\/7 through 8 p.m. on Election Day and bypass USPS entirely, making sure ballots reach the county\u2019s election offices directly.<\/p>\n Read more about how to ensure your mail-in ballot is counted this election season.<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/261008-SF-Ballot-Damaged-02-KQED-9e84a5a9.jpg\")
A damaged San Francisco midterm ballot that was delivered to KQED reporter Sydney Johnson this week.\u00a0(Sydney Johnson\/KQED)<\/p>\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791487575_301_251030-BayAreaVoters-06-BL_qed.jpg\")
A voter is given a sticker after dropping his ballot at City Hall in San Francisco on Oct. 30, 2025, ahead of the statewide special election.\u00a0(Beth LaBerge\/KQED)<\/p>\n