An incomplete investigation into undelivered primary election ballots in Santa Cruz County has revealed that 217 unopened and unused early ballots were mistakenly received at an Amazon Returns facility in Phoenix.
County Recorder Anita Moreno issued a news release on Monday evening saying the 217 ballots are not representative of the greater number of voters who contacted the Recorder’s Office requesting a replacement ballot due to nondelivery. Moreno’s office said the investigation is ongoing into additional missing ballots, and she urged anyone who has not reported a missing ballot to notify her office.
“I know there’s people out there that couldn’t care less, the election is over, let’s move on,” Moreno told the PRT. “No. It’s important that we find out exactly who didn’t get their ballot. We can’t follow up to something we don’t know.”
The total extent of missing ballots is unknown, but Moreno said her office has received about 22 calls from voters in the Sonoita-Elgin area, primarily Democrats, who did not receive ballots, and none of those ballots were among those returned from the Amazon facility.
“If you look at those 217 ballots, none of these ballots match up with the list of individuals from Nogales, Sonoita, Elgin area who reported that they did not receive their ballots, so they’re still out there,” Moreno said, adding that she is aware of issues with voters in the Canelo area.
“We have, of course, had individuals in the past who have not received their ballots,” she said. “The difference here is how can it be so much coincidence that none of the individuals from this area received their ballots.”
The missing ballots that were located represent 10 different precincts, with the largest number coming from Peck Canyon Precinct 21.3 — 39 Republican and 20 Democratic.
Other precincts whose ballots turned up at the Amazon facility were:
- Calabasas 17.3 (35 Republican)
- Nogales 1.1 (29 Democratic)
- Rio Rico 7.2 (27 Democratic)
- Nogales 2.1 (26 Democratic)
- Sonoita 15.3 (22 Republican)
- Coronado 5.1 (10 Democratic)
- Rio Rico 7.1 (7 Democratic)
- Sonoita 15.2 (1 Republican)
- Elgin 6.2 (1 Republican)
All told, there were 119 Democratic ballots and 98 Republican ballots in the Amazon stash, which were retrieved by the U.S. Postal Service on July 21 (election day) and returned to the Recorder’s Office on July 22.
Moreno said approximately 14,200 early ballots were mailed out on June 24, and she’s been in contact with the vendors responsible for printing and mailing the ballots as part of the investigation.
She said she was reluctant to assign blame at this stage of the investigation.
“Until it’s investigated thoroughly, I guess I won’t comment on that,” she said. “Without knowing the root of the problems, it’s very easy for anybody to assume it would be a Postal Service problem. The printing shop, they have a receipt. Unless we find out something else, we’re going to have to zero in on USPS.
“I’m satisfied by the fact that I have to believe that we’re all working to get to the root of the problem. Unfortunately, it seems like everything we request takes time. This is not going to be any different.
Arizona was an early adopter of mail-in voting, approving it in 1991, and is used by nearly 80 percent of the state’s voters, according to Attorney General Kris Mayes. But it has become a contentious issue during the Trump Administration, which issued an executive order, subsequently blocked by a federal judge, calling for the Postal Service to handle mail-in ballots only from voters on preapproved lists. The administration on Monday filed an emergency appeal with the Supreme Court to allow full implementation of the order.
Moreno said her office is already taking steps to strengthen ballot tracking for November’s general election. The county’s ballot printing and mailing vendor has confirmed that an enhanced barcode tracking system will be implemented to provide improved visibility throughout the mailing process.
Early ballots for the November election will be mailed on Oct. 7. Moreno said anyone who does not receive their ballot by Oct. 14 should immediately contact the Recorder’s office at 520-375-7990.