Mishaps in Arizona’s Pinal County are fueling claims of election fraud already stoked by candidates peddling 2020 election denialism.
Roughly 20 precincts in Arizona’s third-most populous county reported ballot shortages, sending election officials scrambling to print more ballots and pleading with voters to wait for extended periods to cast their votes. Two days later, many races still have an estimated 15% to 20% of votes outstanding, and several races have yet to be called.
PINAL COUNTY RESPONDS TO ARIZONA PRIMARY CHAOS: ‘NOT REALLY QUITE CLEAR HOW THAT OCCURRED’
“This is a comprehensive failure that disenfranchises Arizonans and exemplifies why Republican-led efforts for transparency at the ballot box are so important,” Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel and Republican Party of Arizona Chairwoman Kelli Ward said after the Tuesday turmoil.
Amid the uproar over the ballot shortages, the county announced that its elections director, David Frisk, is “no longer employed,” ABC 15 reported. Recorder Virginia Ross was appointed to serve as elections director “effective immediately.”
“As a board, we are deeply embarrassed and frustrated by the mistakes that have been made in this primary election, and as such, we are taking immediate steps to ensure the November election runs smoothly, as elections in Pinal County have historically done prior to this primary,” said Jeffrey McClure, chairman of the Pinal County Board of Supervisors.
As many as 750 voters in the county were affected by the ballot debacle, but it is not clear whether that stymied any voter from casting a ballot, according to Pinal County Attorney Kent Volkmer. Voters who attended polling places mired with ballot shortages were given the opportunity to wait or return later in the day to vote.
The shortages affected 2.5% or about 25 of the 900-plus types, he added during a press conference Wednesday. Not all of the precincts in Pinal County that reported shortages or requested additional ballots ultimately ran out, he added.
For reasons that are not entirely clear, demand for ballots exceeded what the county had produced. Volkmer attributed the shortfall to human error, the fact that there had been a myriad of spoiled ballots, a rise in the county’s population, and an unanticipated amount of independent voters weighing in on the primary.
“We opened the boxes, and there weren’t enough ballots … so we’re not really quite clear how that occurred,” McClure explained during a press conference Wednesday.
This is the second election snafu in Pinal County in recent weeks. Last month, the county sent out some 63,000 erroneous ballots to voters that were rife with errors such as inaccurate local races or missing contests.
Failures in Pinal County have the potential to further erode trust in elections in a state that was a hotbed for election denialism, particularly in Maricopa County. Despite the fact that many Trump-aligned candidates such as Senate contender Blake Masters and secretary of state hopeful Mark Finchem swept to victory in their respective races Tuesday evening, many who questioned the validity of the 2020 election results are hoisting up Pinal County as an example of flaws in the electoral process.
Trump-backed gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, who has cast doubt about the 2020 election, seized on the tumult, declaring that she does not have confidence in how the election was run and contending it was rife with “major issues.” Lake has declared victory in her race for governor, despite most outlets not calling the race due to her slim lead. Her race is the most prominent contest in Arizona in which a winner has not yet been declared by most outlets.
Volkmer has been adamant that the ballot shortfall in Pinal County was a simple “mistake” and that nothing nefarious was afoot.
“There is nothing sinister — it wasn’t as if we said, ‘Hey, this is only going to impact a Republican. … This was widespread. It was equal opportunity. It was just simply a mistake,” Pinal County Attorney Kent Volkmer pleaded with voters.
Pinal County officials are hoping to reassure the public that they will get to the bottom of what went wrong and take corrective action, urging residents to judge the county by its future actions. Volkmer and McClure noted that they are open to consulting outside help for an independent audit.
“We’re looking at restructuring the way we do our elections department. And that’s in the conversations,” McClure said. “We have to look forward to that. We have to figure out the problems that we just had, quickly, and we have to move forward and be positive about it.”
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Despite their concerns about electoral integrity, many Trump-aligned candidates cruised to victory, much to the chagrin of those such as Meghan McCain, the daughter of the late Arizona Sen. John McCain, who bemoaned the slew of victories for MAGA candidates peddling aspersions on election integrity in the state.
While Arizona was once solidly red, the state has been trending toward Democrats in recent years, backing President Joe Biden in 2020 and electing two Democratic senators in recent years. Sen. Mark Kelly’s (D-AZ) bid to defend his seat is expected to be one of the most hotly contested races in the country in November.
