Ballot Printer Sues Mendocino County Over Unpaid Election Bills dating back to March 2024

Mendocino County says the ballot printer owes it almost $108,000 for the cost of handling a ballot printing error

A ballot being inserted into a ballot box during the June 2, 2026 election (MendoLocal.News CC BY 4.0)

Integrated Voting Systems (IVS), the company that printed and mailed ballots for Mendocino County’s March 5, 2024 presidential primary election, has filed a lawsuit seeking nearly $98,000 in unpaid invoices.

The dispute stems from a ballot-printing error discovered shortly before the election. According to a complaint filed April 23, 2026 in Mendocino County Superior Court, the county notified IVS on February 7, 2024, that Republican ballots had been mailed every voter, regardless of their party affiliation. IVS acknowledged responsibility the following day, attributing the mistake to an incorrect data file provided by a third-party vendor hired by the company.

IVS CEO Eric Kozlowski described the error in detail to the Secretary of State on February 9, 2024: “The issue was created by a third-party vendor that sent us incorrect ballot images. These ballot images were created from a test file produced by the vendor for converting the black print from CMYK to Black only using a static republican ballot image. The vendor created the correct file also. When the images were posted to our FTP site, the vendor posted the test file instead of the correct live file. When we looked at the file for our internal QC (quality control), the header fields, watermark, and barcodes were all correct.”

IVS says it immediately reprinted corrected ballots and mailed them at its own expense. The complaint stated replacement ballots were delivered to the U.S. Postal Service by February 13, allowing the election to proceed as scheduled.

After completing its work, IVS issued three invoices to the county on March 27, 2024:

• Invoice 13340: $22,515.89

• Invoice 13341: $29,241.37

• Invoice 13343: $45,999.80

The invoices totaled $97,756.06.

The county did not pay the invoices. Instead, on July 25, 2024, Deputy County Counsel Brina Blanton sent IVS a settlement proposal alleging that the ballot error had cost the county approximately $107,705.93 in additional expenses. According to the proposal, those costs consisted primarily of staff time, including 675.5 hours of regular employee labor and 403 hours of additional staffing needed to provide extra help.

The county proposed that IVS waive the unpaid invoices and pay the county an additional $9,948.87.

In a September 24, 2024 response, attorneys Elizabeth Skane and William Mullins, representing IVS, requested documentation supporting the county’s claimed damages. The attorneys sought payroll records, timekeeping records, employment agreements, wage information, and election budgets from 2020 through 2024.

According to the lawsuit, communications continued throughout 2024 and 2025, but IVS contends the county was slow to respond and failed to provide sufficient documentation to justify its claimed losses.

The complaint states that the county eventually produced approximately 400 pages of records, including voter emails sent to the Elections Office and election timesheets. IVS argues that the records did not include hourly wage information or documentation showing actual labor costs, making it impossible to verify the county’s estimate of damages.

The lawsuit asserts five causes of action:

• Breach of Contract — IVS argues that it fulfilled its obligations under its agreement with the county and that the county breached the contract by refusing to pay for services received.

• Quantum Meruit — IVS claims the county accepted and benefited from election printing and mailing services and must pay their reasonable value.

• Common Counts – Services Rendered — IVS alleges it provided election-related services for which payment remains due.

• Account Stated — IVS argues that the county received and retained the invoices without timely objection, creating an obligation to pay the stated amount.

• Declaratory Relief — IVS seeks a court ruling establishing the county’s obligation to pay for services rendered and accepted, and determining that the county cannot withhold payment solely on the basis of internally generated labor estimates.

IVS is seeking $97,756.06 in damages, plus pre-judgment interest, attorneys’ fees where authorized, and court costs. The company is also asking the court to declare that Mendocino County remains obligated to pay for services it accepted and used during the 2024 primary election.

IVS did not respond to a request for comment.

In a statement to MendoLocal.News, Mendocino County said it is currently unable to discuss the pending litigation but expects to be able to respond to questions at a later date.