As the investigation into missing and misdirected mail-in primary ballots continues in Santa Cruz County, it turns out other rural counties in the state have experienced “anomalies”.

In Navajo County, more than 1,300 mail-in ballots were marked “undeliverable” before the primary.

In Apache County, Dannee Roan acknowledged an unusual number of calls from voters not getting an early ballot, but she said no investigation was underway there. “We don’t track calls,” said Roan, the recorder office’s projects coordinator.

In Yavapai County, Recorder Michelle Burchill said the number of ballots received after election day was higher than usual. On the day she spoke with the PRT, that number totaled 859. Not all the ballots came back with postmarks, so her office cannot determine when they were mailed.

“I don’t know what the hell is going on with the rural counties in Arizona,” Burchill said. “It’s either a voter behavior issue or a USPS issue.”

For the general election, she is going to emphasize returning early ballots in drop boxes to eliminate any potential middleman issues.

Erin Miller, Greenlee County’s Recorder, did not report any issues with early voting there, perhaps because the county takes a different approach to getting the ballots in the hands of votes.

The smallest county in Arizona, Greenlee only has three post offices: Clifton, Morenci and Duncan. Consequently, “we drive them (ballots) to the post offices, and they don’t go through Phoenix,” Miller said.

Other county recorders responding to an inquiry on early ballot distribution cited confusion among some voters who assume being registered as an Independent allows them to vote for candidates on both tickets.  That’s what Recorder Billy Cloud saw in Cochise County. “They (Independents) didn’t choose a Republican or Democrat ballot.”

“We need to do a better job at voter education,” Cloud said. Which is something his office plans to do in preparation for the November general election.

Aubrey Sonderegger, Coconino County Recorder, said Coconino had the usual number of people who didn’t get their mail forwarded and those who didn’t understand the Independent voting process. She also said there appears to be a misunderstanding of when to return the early ballot.

“Some states do accept the postal date” in counting a ballot. Arizona, is not one of those states. Consequently, ballots need to be mailed seven days prior to election day.

Which does not explain the problems faced in Santa Cruz County, where early ballots were not received by voters after arriving at Postal Service’s Arizona Regional Processing and Distribution Center in Avondale. Some 217 early ballots were mistakenly delivered to an Amazon Return Center, and numerous other ballots are still at large, many from the Elgin and Canelo area.

At least one Elgin resident has been in contact with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office related to this matter. An investigator with the AG’s office said he was not authorized to comment.

In contacting the USPS with questions regarding mail sorting protocols and discovery of missing Santa Cruz County early ballots, the PRT received the following response from Sherry Patterson, USPS Corporate Communications, Strategic Communications Specialist AZ-NM-NV-UT:

“The Postal Service is committed to the secure, timely delivery of the nation’s Election Mail. We employ a robust and proven process to ensure proper handling and delivery of all Election Mail, including ballots, as evidenced in the 2024 Post Election Analysis. We are working closely with the local election office to resolve any remaining issues and will continue to work with them to avoid such incidents in the future.”

The PRT made four attempts to seek comment from the Arizona Secretary of State’s office, with no response.