The broken OKI printer was a cheap printer refurbished by the county and its supplier, Runbeck Election Services. This printer was originally used to print ballot envelopes, but was later modified by adding a longer tray to accommodate 20 inch, 100 pound cardboard ballots.

OKI says the printer’s manual clearly states that it cannot print double-sided on such thick paper. two letters company recently sent To the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office.vote beat A similar report was made in December After speaking to a number of election technology experts about what caused the faint flaking toner that the on-site ballot counters couldn’t read,

The company notes that the manual mentions the restriction twice, and says OKI is “still concerned that this restriction may be overlooked.”

In a second letter dated July, OKI said, “A more thorough review of the manual (or direct consultation with an OKI representative) prior to the election would suggest that the media being used does not meet the B432 specifications. would have been clearly shown,” he wrote. 12.

Poor print quality caused voter delays as ballots were rejected by ballot counters at about a third of polling places in the county. Ballots not accepted by the field machines were eventually counted at the county’s central headquarters. However, the damage was done. The issue fueled distrust in the county’s election and fueled Republican candidates trying to prove that the election was stolen from them.

Since the election aftermath, the county has shared some of its internal findings over time, including through court hearings and updates to county regulators, but not a full review. For months, the county refused to provide the VoteBeat with its internal report or share its details, citing elections official Scott Jarrett as it was still being worked out, so the draft was not available in Arizona. It said it was exempt from disclosure under the Public Records Act. The county turned over the report only after the ballot beat sent a letter from attorney David Bodney warning that the county was improperly withholding the documents.

OKI has been pushing Maricopa County for major remediation in recent months. Independent Report on Election Day Matters Written by former Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Ruth McGregor.

The county attorney’s office hired McGregor in January to complete an independent investigation separate from the ongoing internal investigation. According to invoices obtained by Votebeat, the firm paid her and her subcontractors about $102,000 to investigate the matter.

In a report released on April 10, McGregor said, “Despite manufacturer’s warranties, many OKI B432 printers print 20-inch ballots on £100 paper under election day conditions. I couldn’t,” he wrote.

OKI says it makes no such guarantee. Company spokeswoman Lou Stricklin told VoteBeat that the county did not contact the company before or after the election regarding whether the ballots would work on the press. McGregor said he similarly did not contact him when he conducted the independent review.

The county said it relied on pre-election manuals in making paper choices. The county attorney’s office said McGregor did not contact OKI because her review was intended to be independent and not be influenced by any person or company with an interest in the outcome. . However, McGregor interviewed Jarrett.

Mr. Oki In a first letter dated May 1 to the county attorney’s officesaid McGregor’s report was “irresponsible.”

“It appears that the true root cause of the election problem was the use of £100 paper without checking the manual and confirming with OKI that such use was within the specifications of the OKI B432 printer. ,” writes OKI.

The company believes its reputation is at stake, according to the letter, and McGregor’s report states that “OKI’s competitors have discredited and other election ties that rely on OKI’s printing companies.” It could be used to create suspicion in people’s minds.”

The company emphasized that its printers have been used successfully in elections over the years. Until recently, when the company stopped selling the printer in the United States, OKI was popular with election officials across the country as a cheap and reliable printer, according to several election technology experts.

County attorney Rachel Mitchell wrote back According to a letter obtained by Votebeat through its records, she does not believe McGregor’s report “blanks” the printers, but “rather, the Office of Elections unknowingly turned the Oki B432 press into its own office.” I pushed him to the limit of his ability,” he said. request.

Wanting to put the issue into perspective, Mitchell wrote, “It’s always unfortunate that voters are inconvenienced,” but only some printers failed to print quality ballots. It said there were no “massive printer failures.” About 250,000 voters cast their ballots on Election Day, but only about 16,724 voters were not initially counted at polling stations. Some of that was due to other reasons, such as another minor printing error, or the shrinking of the ballot image.

But Mr. Mitchell objected to the manual. She pointed to a custom printing line that explained that the custom settings the county was using allowed up to about 110 pounds of paper, but that section said nothing about the possible lack of duplex printing. was not

An internal report released Wednesday emphasized similar points.

Both reports suggest the county will replace OKI with more robust industrial printers, and county officials say they already plan to do so.

Jen Fifield is a reporter for Votebeat based in Arizona. Please contact Jen: [email protected].

this article was first published vote beata non-profit news agency covering local election administration and vote access.