Fact Check: Completed California Prop 50 Redistricting Ballots Are Visible, NOT Readable Through Mail-In Envelope

[Thiệu Ngô]

Are completed California Proposition 50 redistricting ballots visible through Sacramento County's mail-in envelopes? Yes, but that is missing context.

By: Alexis Tereszcuk

A mark on a Prop 50 ballot can be seen through a hole in the vote-by-mail envelope from Sacramento County, Ca. if the ballot is folded with text on the outside and placed facing one of the holes on the envelope. There is, however, no way to see how a voter voted through the hole in the envelope, the public information manager from Sacramento County told Lead Stories.

The claim appeared in an October 9, 2025 post on X.com account @WallStreetApes It opened:

HOLY CR*P Gavin Newsom's redistricting election is going to be RIGGED

California resident got her ballot:

If you Vote No on prop 50 to stop the redistricting, it shows through the envelope

This makes it easier for Democrats to identify them and throw them in the trash

Proposition 50 (archived here) is a statewide measure that would temporarily change the state's congressional map.

This fact check will focus on the claim that a "no" vote on Prop 50 shows through the mail-in envelope used in Sacramento County, a photo of which accompanies the claim.

Janna Haynes, the public information manager for Sacramento County, spoke to Lead Stories via phone on October 9, 2025, and confirmed the visibility of a mark on the ballot through the mail-in envelope in certain circumstances:

So this is a situation where we have a one-sided ballot. If you fold it to where the text is out and you put the side where you filled in the bubble facing the front of the envelope and it's pushed all the way against one side of the envelope you can see a bubble.

Haynes continued:

You cannot see any text associated with that bubble. It doesn't say yes or no. You can't see that part in the bubble so you'll either see a blank bubble or a filled bubble, depending on what you voted.

Haynes noted, "if the ballot is folded and placed in the envelope with the blank side of the ballot on the outside, the vote mark will not be seen." She explained how the mark can be seen:

There is a situation where you can, if you fold it where the text is out and you put the place where you can see a bubble. You cannot see the text, you can't see yes or no.

Haynes addressed claims that people who have been concerned about their ballot in the mail-in envelope say it is showing a "no" vote:

I have anecdotally been told that people are saying it's the "no" vote. Without actually filling it out and putting it in there I can't tell that, but that is what I've been told but so obviously our recommendation is that people fold it with the text in because there's nothing else on the other side. And if you put it in, even if you put it in that direction [with the text on the outside] and you don't necessarily put it up against the side of the envelope and you can't see that [the mark].

She shared a video posted on the Sacramento County YouTube account (archived here) showing how to fold and mail the ballot with this caption:

The Sacramento County Department of Voter Registration and Elections has recently learned about online posts about the Statewide Special Election ballot and envelope. These posts claim that when folded and placed back in the return envelope, a voter's ballot selection can be seen through the holes in the envelope.

The Sacramento County website (archived here) has a section titled, "RESPONSE TO SPECIAL ELECTION BALLOT ENVELOPE POSTS" which addresses the claims of the vote being seen through the mail-in envelope:

There are at least eight ways to insert a ballot card into the return envelope, and only two of these might result in a bubble being visible through the hole. There is no way to determine how a voter voted through this small hole.
Our ballot cards contain a single question printed on one side. Concerned voters can fold their ballot so the blank side faces outward before placing it in the envelope.
The punched holes in our ballot envelopes, introduced in 2008, are a best practice in most California counties. They serve as a tactile guide for visually impaired voters to locate the signature area and allow VRE staff to verify that all ballot cards have been removed from returned envelopes.