Maricopa County says vendor mailed 3,126 early ballots six days ahead of schedule
Maricopa County, Arizona, announced on Oct. 5 that its ballot vendor, Runbeck Election Services, mistakenly mailed 3,126 early‑voting ballots on Oct. 1, six days before the scheduled Oct. 7 distribution.
The premature shipment was not authorized by the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office, which first learned of the error when Runbeck notified the office on Oct. 2 that the pallets had already been released to the United States Postal Service.
County officials said the ballots were addressed to the correct voters and contained the proper election materials. After consulting with the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, they determined the ballots remain valid, will be stored unopened until early voting begins, and will be processed normally.
Runbeck Election Services released a statement explaining that the 3,126 packets were handled separately because they did not qualify for USPS automated mail processing, requiring separate handling before presentation to the postal service. Jeff Ellington, the company’s CEO, described the incident as “pure accident, just a human error,” and emphasized that the error was unintentional.
Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap, a Republican, confirmed the mistake and reiterated that no voters were adversely affected. He noted that the county will work with Runbeck to implement stronger controls to prevent a recurrence.
President Donald Trump publicly criticized the county, calling it “very, very dishonest” and saying, “Maricopa sent out thousands of ballots in error, and they should be ashamed of themselves.” The comments echoed previous criticism of Maricopa’s election operations, including a 2022 incident in which more than 60,000 ballots were mailed with incorrect races.
Maricopa County has faced a string of election‑related challenges over the past several years, from printer malfunctions in the 2020 election to ballot‑printing errors in 2022 and allegations of security violations in 2024. The latest premature mailing adds to that history, though officials stress that the current batch of ballots does not require re‑issuance.
The county has not indicated any changes to the upcoming early‑voting schedule, and voters who received the early packets are urged to complete and return them according to normal procedures.
