Golden State Today

The recall ballot design for the California governor's race is being called into question for possibly revealing the voter's selections. 

An Instagram video posted by a woman identified as Amy Cox sparked controversy when she revealed that two holes in the envelope for recall ballots could allow anyone to see whether the voter was "for" or "against" recalling Gov. Gavin Newsom. 

"When I saw this ballot envelope, I was shocked to see that it could reveal someone's actual vote," Cox said. "Our votes are supposed to be private. If someone can tell how people voted, then anyone who comes into contact with ballots could easily tamper with or discard votes they don't like."

The video gathered massive attention online and spawned concerns about the integrity of the vote, citing the possibility of election workers screening ballots before counting them, according to a news release from the Amistad Project. 

"A voter should never be forced to reveal their vote by negligent design," Amistad Project Director Phill Kline said in the release. 

The recall election of Newsom is set for Tuesday, Sept. 14. The process began in June 2020 and resulted in more than 1.7 million valid signatures being processed by the secretary of state. 

State officials have defended the design, saying the holes serve two legitimate purposes. First, they provide guidance to blind voters to fill out their ballot. Second, they allow election workers to quickly confirm that an envelope is indeed empty before discarding it and moving on, according to KCRA. 

The Los Angeles County clerk argues this is "an established, recommended practice" that has been in use for years, adding in subsequent public comments that the holes are recommended by civic design consultants, according to the release. 

The Amistad Project and the American Voter's Alliance say that they are actively investigating the apparent ballot envelope design, according to the press release.