Gabrielle Russon
The Orange County Supervisor of Elections got the Democratic candidate’s name mixed up on sample ballots sent to about 89,000 voters ahead of the House District 40 Special General Election next month.
RaShon Young beat Travaris McCurdy in the Democratic Special Primary in June. But it’s McCurdy’s name that actually appears on sample ballots mailed to voters this week, the SOE said in a press release.
“The Orange County Supervisor of Elections office takes full responsibility for this mistake. We have tracked the error and found it originated in our office during artwork creation for the printing process,” said SOE spokesperson Blake Summerlin in a press release sent this weekend. “The office is taking immediate action to correct it by mailing a ‘Notice of Printing Error’ to all affected voters, along with a rectified Sample Ballot.”
Young’s name is printed correctly on the real ballots, the SOE confirmed, adding that the mistake is only on the sample ballots for people who did not request vote-by-mail ballots.
Young is facing Republican Tuan Le and write-in candidate Christopher Hall in the Sept. 2 Special General Election.
“I spoke directly with Supervisor of Elections Karen Castor Dentel, and she personally apologized for the mistake. I appreciate her taking responsibility and I am grateful for the swift action her office is taking to correct the error,” Young said in a statement Sunday. “Mistakes can happen, but what matters most is how they are addressed. I trust that her team will continue working to ensure voters in West Orange County have accurate information going into this Special Election.”
The HD 40 race is for the seat held by Rep. LaVon Bracy Davis. Bracy Davis is stepping down officially Sept. 1 from the House as she runs for Senate District 15 to replace the late. Sen. Geraldine Thompson.
The sample ballot mistake is happening eight months into the first term of newly elected Castor Dentel. She replaced the Gov. Ron DeSantis appointee Glen Gilzean.
All voters who got the incorrect sample ballot should expect to get a new sample ballot before Early Voting begins Aug. 23, her office said.
“All mailings go through a detailed proofing process. Unfortunately, the error was not caught during this process. Steps are being taken to strengthen the proofing system to prevent future errors,” the SOE said on its website.
Summerlin said the SOE’s office is meeting Monday to discuss how to improve the process and will provide more details in the future. He could not immediately provide the cost for reprinting the 89,000 sample ballots to fix the error.
One comment
More information is needed
August 10, 2025 at 10:43 pm
No one-off mailing of that magnitude (to nearly 90,000 voters) should have gone to the printer without the Supervisor’s personal, written sign-off. It is a fair question to know whether she provided that or not.
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