Maricopa ballot issues caused by paper changes: Media Miss

According to a report, the ballot printer issues in Maricopa County, Arizona, during the 2022 midterm elections were caused not by malicious actions, but by changes to the paper that was used. The issues led to precinct-based vote tabulators having trouble reading ballots.

In the report released Monday, April 10, retired Arizona Supreme Court Justice Ruth McGregor concluded that county officials used longer ballots on thicker paper. Former Justice McGregor said this pushed the printers to the edge of their capabilities.

“Nothing we learned in our interviews or document reviews gave any clear indication that the problems should have been anticipated,” McGregor wrote in the report. “Leadership and staff were uniformly confident that the general election would run smoothly, and there was reason for their confidence: the Oki B432 printers had performed reliably in the past, both in Maricopa County and elsewhere; the County’s experience with 100-pound paper had been positive in the primary election; and the printer stress tests with 20-inch ballots on 100-pound paper revealed no problems.”

Multiple GOP candidates in Arizona cited the Maricopa County ballot printer issues as a reason for their loss at the midterms. This includes Kari Lake, who lost to Gov. Katie Hobbs, D-Ariz., in the state’s gubernatorial election. Lake’s campaign responded to the report on Twitter, calling it “a farce.”

“Maricopa County has released the results of their internal investigation & has SHOCKINGLY found themselves not guilty of any crime,” the campaign tweeted. “These people don’t think your vote or your opinion matters. And anyone who takes the results of this ‘investigation’ seriously is part of the problem.”

Straight Arrow News aims to identify when stories are being underreported on either side of the political aisle and media landscape. This story is a Media Miss for right-leaning outlets, with most sources reporting it being either left-leaning or center-oriented outlets, according to Ground.News.