Trump slams Maricopa County recorder over mail-in ballots sent early

The president had harsh words for Maricopa County, a pivotal battleground where mail-in voting is led by his political ally.

"They have to be ashamed of this,” the president told reporters. “They got caught and now they're saying it was an error. Maricopa is a very, very dishonest county."

Heap, a Republican with ties to a top Trump adviser, did not comment on the president's criticism.

Though Trump used the error to revive his old, unproven claims of widespread election fraud in Maricopa County, Heap said the correct ballots were mailed to the correct voters despite the timing error.

The recorder said the ballots do not need to be voided or reissued when he announced the issue publicly on Oct. 4.

“No voters were adversely affected. Runbeck (the vendor) accepts responsibility for their error and will work with the MCRO to implement appropriate controls to prevent it from ever happening again,” said Heap, who oversees voter registration and mail-in voting in one of the nation’s biggest swing counties.

The high-stakes midterm election is Nov. 3.

Mail-in ballots are supposed to go out starting Oct. 7 in Arizona, but Runbeck Election Services mailed 3,126 vote-by-mail packets Oct. 1.

“The premature mailing was not authorized by the Recorder's Office, which was notified only after it occurred,” Heap said.

Runbeck said its logistics team delivered vote-by-mail packets to the U.S. Postal Service Business Mail Entry Unit on Oct. 1. The packets were processed separately because they did not qualify for USPS automated mail processing.

The container that held the early ballots was mistakenly included with mail released that night, which led to the packets being mailed early.

“The early delivery was a matter of timing,” Runbeck said in a written statement shared by Heap's office. “And did not involve the validity or production of the VBM packets.”

The ballots are still valid and do not need to be voided or reissued, Heap said, noting that he consulted with the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office on the issue.

Any ballots that the county receives before early voting begins will remain unopened and securely stored until processing begins, Heap added.

Republican Maricopa County Supervisor Mark Stewart said was confident Heap would work with the vendor to fix the problem, but he also understood where Trump was coming from.

“I understand the President’s frustrations but more importantly I live in Maricopa County and I understand the voters' frustrations too. Maricopa County deserves better and should expect transparency in the process for getting those answers,” Stewart said in a written statement. “Even when ballots remain valid and voters are not harmed, an error like this can undermine public confidence in our elections. That matters, and we take it seriously.”