Over 900 early ballots were not sent to Navajo County voters

State and federal officials are trying to figure out why over 900 early ballots were not delivered to Navajo County voters ahead of the July 21 primary election.

New Navajo County Recorder David Marshall informed the Board of Supervisors about the issue at a July 14 meeting.

“Why? Don't know,” Marshall said.

Marshall blamed the United States Postal Service for the incident, saying the ballots were returned to the county as “undeliverable,” which typically means a voter’s mailing address is not correct. But he said the Recorder’s Office ran the addresses through verification systems before sending them, including AVID, a statewide voter information database.

Marshall said he contacted officials in Show Low, Snow Flake and Winslow, who all said some voters in their communities were not receiving ballots.

“So the addresses, 99% of them are accurate according to our system, but we don't understand why they're not reaching their homes,” he said.

Marshall said there was also a misunderstanding regarding whether the county had paid for the postage to mail the ballots.

“We pay our postage bills,” he said.

Marshall also told the supervisors he was unable to reach Postal Service officials in Phoenix but left a message requesting information about why the ballots were returned. However, Bloomberg News, which first reported on the incident, reported that the Postal Service was unaware of the issue until it was contacted by a reporter this week.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Postal Service confirmed Navajo County officials mailed out about 40,000 ballots and requested return service for undeliverable mail.

"Approximately 2.5% of them (900) were returned to the election office because they were undeliverable as addressed or the forwarding time had expired," spokesperson Sherry Patterson said. "The Postal Service followed proper protocol for the Return Service that the County requested."

There are a total of 78,207 registered voters in Navajo County, a largely rural jurisdiction that covers multiple Native American reservations.

More than half of the ballots in this election were cast by mail in Navajo County, where it can be difficult for residents in isolated areas to reach polling places.

According to a preliminary election report, voters cast a total 16,234 ballots — including 9,010 early ballots — in the primary election, meaning the undelivered ballots amount to around 5% of the total turnout.

It’s unclear how many of those voters were able to vote by other means, such as showing up to a polling place on Election Day.

Marshall and a Navajo County spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment.

Marshall told the county supervisors his office sent out letters to the affected voters and he also posted a video to the county’s Facebook page on July 14, urging anyone who did not receive their ballot to contact his office.

The Arizona Attorney General’s Office is looking into the situation.

“We’re seeking information on the situation to determine if a full investigation is warranted,” said Richie Taylor, a spokesperson for the Attorney General’s Office.

Calli Jones, a spokesperson for the Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, said the Secretary of State's Office is also currently working to gather more information.

In a separate incident, two Navajo County Recorder’s Office employees left a key unattended on top of a ballot drop box in Pinetop-Lakeside on July 15. The drop box was under security camera surveillance the entire time and remained secure until a resident eventually found the key and turned it in to town officials, according to a press release.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been modified to update a statement from the U.S. Postal Service.