Printer glitches in Ariz. election not due to malfeasance, review finds

PHOENIX — The problem with counting votes at dozens of polling places in Maricopa County, Arizona, during last November’s midterm elections was the combination of heavier paper and longer ballots, according to a report released Monday. It was the cause.

The report was prepared by former Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court, Ruth McGregor. Ruth McGregor was asked by the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office to conduct an independent investigation into why some of the Oki B432 printers worked so effectively in the August primary. A few months later he broke down. McGregor hired an election expert for a months-long investigation.

In the foreword to the nearly 40-page document, McGregor emphasized that her review was “independent and free from outside influence.”

The report was discussed privately at Monday’s meeting of Maricopa County’s Republican-led governing body, the Oversight Board. That disclosure marks the latest chapter in the board’s quest to quash election conspiracy theories in counties home to more than half of the state’s voters.

Printer issues caused chaos on Election Day as counters at affected sites rejected fraudulent ballots. Voters were instructed to move to another polling place or deposit their ballots in a secure drawer. Ballots were later taken to a central tallying site in downtown Phoenix.

The report stressed that while it bothered some voters and drew widespread attention, the printer problem was not widespread. “Two-thirds of his vote centers in the general election reported no issues with typographical errors on their ballots. About 94% of Election Day ballots were free of defects,” McGregor wrote. .

Still, the glitch fueled claims from prominent Republican candidates that the county had deliberately undermined direct voting, which many Republicans support. Kari Lake, who has not admitted, has taken to social media to promote unsubstantiated claims that the county acted “unfairly,” adding a rallying cry of “#Sabotage.”Republican Party Abraham HamadeHe called the dysfunction a “direct attack on democracy,” after losing the closest contested attorney general election in the state’s history.

However, the review found no evidence of fraud by county officials or contractors. It has been forced to perform “at levels beyond its capabilities and at levels that cannot be reliably sustained,” the report said. The heavier paper was used because of a conspiracy theory that the ink soaked into the paper used in previous contests, the report notes. He said it was because many contests didn’t fit on a regular 19-inch ballot.

McGregor’s report provided a case study of how the Arizona election was riddled with distrust as it unraveled the stories behind heavy papers. Ink from the ballots oozed onto some ballot papers and didn’t affect vote tallies, but spread hoaxes about invalid ballots to the virus, the report explains.

“However, within hours of the ballot closing, claims went viral on social media claiming that certain Sharpie-filled ballots could not be read by the Maricopa County ballot scanning machines. is a theory known colloquially as the ‘Sharpie Gate,'” the report states. said. “While there was no basis for this theory, in an effort to allay voter concerns and prevent backtracking in future elections, Maricopa County election officials will seek more support in the 2021 and 2022 primaries and general elections. We decided to use heavy 100-pound paper.”

McGregor reports that the printer’s problems are easy to fix as the machine’s fuser cannot be replaced individually and the manufacturer, which has exited the North and South American market, will soon no longer be making machine parts. not.

The report suggested that counties could discontinue using printers or go back to using thinner paper. County leaders can also count all ballots at Central Headquarters, where more powerful counting machines are used, and eliminate the counting of some ballots at polling places. If the county leader continues to use printers for elections, the stress on the machine will need him to test more reliably, the report says.

Republican Commissioner Clint Hickman said in a statement that the county would change the use of some equipment, but did not provide details.

“We will not grade homework ourselves. Now that we have a better understanding of the factors involved, we will begin with some equipment replacements to best serve our voters,” his statement said. increase.

Republican director Bill Gates, who chaired the 2022 election and faced heavy criticism over printer failures, welcomed the report.

“This shows that two things can be true at the same time. I had every reason to trust,” he said in a statement. “Still, knowing what we know now allows us to do better.”

McGregor wrote that her team was asked to determine whether the Election Day problem was due to human error, procedural issues, or equipment failure. Things are always difficult, but in my judgment, equipment failure was the leading cause of Election Day’s failure,” she wrote.

“Despite manufacturer warranties, many of the Oki B432 printers were unable to reliably print 20-inch ballots on £100 paper under election day conditions,” the report concluded. increase.

OKI Data Americas, Inc. spokesperson Lou Stricklin told The Washington Post that versions of the company’s printers, including the model used in Maricopa County, have been used in elections nationwide for years. . problem up to this point. Stricklin said he had not yet read the report.