A Maricopa County vendor mistakenly mailed more than 3,000 mail ballots six days before they were meant to reach voters, Recorder Justin Heap said.
The correct ballots were mailed to the correct voters despite the timing error, Heap said in a written statement, and they do not need to be voided or reissued. The recorder announced the issue publicly on Oct. 4.
“No voters were adversely affected. Runbeck accepts responsibility for their error and will work with the MCRO to implement appropriate controls to prevent it from ever happening again,” said Heap, who oversees voter registration and mail-in voting in one of the nation’s biggest swing counties.
The high-stakes midterm election is Nov. 3.
Mail-in ballots are supposed to go out starting Oct.
7 in Arizona, but Runbeck Election Services mailed 3,126 vote-by-mail packets Oct. 1.
“The premature mailing was not authorized by the Recorder's Office, which was notified only after it occurred,” Heap said.
Runbeck said its logistics team delivered vote-by-mail packets to the U.S. Postal Service Business Mail Entry Unit on Oct. 1. The packets were processed separately because they did not qualify for USPS automated mail processing.
The container that held the early ballots was mistakenly included with mail released that night, which led to the packets being mailed early.
“The early delivery was a matter of timing,” Runbeck said in a written statement shared by Heap's office. “And did not involve the validity or production of the VBM packets.”
The ballots are still valid and do not need to be voided or reissued, Heap said, noting that he consulted with the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office on the issue.
Any ballots that the county receives before early voting begins will remain unopened and securely stored until processing begins, Heap added.
Stephanie Murray covers national politics and the Trump administration for The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. She co-hosts “The Gaggle,” The Republic’s weekly politics podcast. Reach her at stephanie.murray@usatodayco.com, on X and TikTok @stephanie_murr and on Instagram @stephaniemurray.news.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Mail-in ballots sent too early are still valid, elections official says
