An election worker processes mail-in ballots at the Los Angeles County Ballot Processing Center during California’s state primary election in the City of Industry, Calif., on June 2, 2026.

Thousands of vote-by-mail ballots in San Francisco have arrived at residents’ doorsteps with a long slit on the outer envelope this week, leading some community members to believe that they’ve been deliberately tampered with. However, after contacting the United States Postal Service, the city’s Department of Elections was able to figure out why, and has a much more mundane explanation for the ripped envelopes.    

After receiving reports of the torn........

© SFGate