SANTA CLARA COUNTY, Calif. (KRON) -- At least several batches of ballots cast in the November special election were miscounted during Santa Clara County’s count, according to the Registrar of Voters Office. The Secretary of State and Santa Clara County said the results were still accurate and bla me tabulation software for the hiccup. The actual number of ballots miscounted is disputed by the county and a former employee who worked on tabulation, but all tell KRON4 News the end result was accurate after staff recounted the ballots. Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters Matt Moreles said Monday the software issue was found in November during a quality control count of the ballots already put through a counting machine. Sword-wielding man offers ‘squatter removal’ service in Bay Area “We determined there was a software issue that was, in a small number of circumstances, allowing the ballots to get missed and not counted,” Moreles said. “This is something we were catching in real time.” Moreles said at no point during the publication of election results did it show an inaccurate count. The November 4, 2025 election was certified on December 2. The software used that had errors reported was Democracy Suite 5.19, according to the California Office of the Secretary of State.  “The issue was identified through standard tabulation reconciliation procedures, and established protocols were promptly implemented to mitigate its impact,” the agency said in an email to KRON4 News. Democracy Suite is operated by Liberty Vote USA, which purchased Dominion Voting Systems Corp in 2025. Liberty Vote did not respond to KRON4’s request for comment. A former Registrar of Voters employee who KRON4 granted anonymity said he and his coworkers caught the error because of the double and triple checking they have instituted.  “It first was very confusing, we didn’t know what was causing the issue,” the employee said. “If I wasn’t working there I would want to know what was happening in my government or county… bringing it to light is really important.” Moreles said Liberty Vote issued a user warning for other vote offices around California that use the software, though Secretary of State office said Santa Clara County was the only county reporting issues. The former county employee said he hopes other counties review their quality control for ballots. “Not every county has that three check process Santa Clara County does… communication between counties is minimal,” the employee said. Moreles said he can’t speak for other counties but said the election process is still safe, secure and accurate. “We’ve modified our process slightly to avoid these issues,” Moreles said. There is a special runoff election to decide the Santa Clara County Assessor on Tuesday, December 30. Moreles said they will be using the same software but said the election will be accurate. ...read more read less