https:/arizonasuntimes.com/2022/06/11/maricopa-county-spokesperson-admits-20000-late-ballots-were-scanned-before-verification-expert-says-likely-a-crime/
The Arizona Sun Times
Maricopa County Spokesperson Admits 20,000 'Late' Ballots Were Scanned Before Verification; Expert Says Likely a Crime
In an email exchange with The Arizona Sun Times this week, a Maricopa County Recorder’s office spokesperson may have unwittingly admitted that the county mishandled thousands of ballots from the 2020 general election that one watchdog groups says were accepted after the legal deadline.
Megan Gilbertson, the communications director for the Maricopa County Elections Department (MCED) – a department of the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office – said that the department processed ballots by scanning them into the tabulating machines at MCED before transferring their custody the next day to Runbeck Election Services, which verifies their legitimacy with signature verification.
She stated, “Due to the large volumes of early ballots received Election Day, we are scanning in early ballots received by 7 p.m. on Election Day well into the next morning, which is why a transfer of custody document would have a date after Election Day.”
In an earlier email, Gilbertson noted that “early ballot envelope signatures that are cured would also be tracked and scanned after Election Day until the curing deadline. None of these ballots would be marked as rejected, as they were all received by the Elections Department prior to 7 p.m. on Election Day.”
Gilbertson added that although the receipts are dated after Election Day, the ballots weren’t late because they were either cured ballots (Arizona law provides five days after an election to cure ballots) or took extra time to transport to Runbeck, their third-party private vendor, due to scanning them first at MCED.
Maricopa County elections officials contracted withRunbeck Election Services, a Phoenix-based business founded in 1972 by Chuck Runbeck. According to the company’s website, the firm specializes in “customized election solutions, reaching more than 70 million voters” and touts its services “are conducted from our state-of-the-art, secure facility – designed specifically for the production of election-related materials.”
The county contracted with Runbeck Election Services to provide signature verification for the ballot affidavits contained on the ballot envelopes.
The ballot receipts, the county spokesperson said, are drawn up when MCED drops the ballots off with Runbeck for verification – not when they come in from the United States Postal Service (USPS).
She wrote, “We have bipartisan staff that pick up envelopes from USPS. That staff delivers these envelopes, each with a unique intelligent barcode, to the Elections Department. The envelopes picked up from the post office are then delivered to Runbeck along with the early ballot affidavits dropped off at voting locations on Election Day.”
The Sun Times asked Gilbertson to confirm her statement that ballots go directly from USPS to MCED first, then to Runbeck.
“Yes,” she answered.
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