ELECTION 2016: Pamphlets for voters miss mail deadline
Delay affects 200,000 in Pinal, other counties
FLORENCE — Pinal County residents were among the estimated 200,000 Arizonans to not receive voter information pamphlets before a state-mandated deadline.
The pamphlets contain information concerning Propositions 123 and 124, statewide initiatives on the ballot for a special election on May 17. Statements for and against each proposition are included in the pamphlet as well as addresses for polling stations in each county.
State law dictates these pamphlets “shall” be mailed out to each household of a registered voter before early ballots are received. Early ballots for this month’s special election began to be mailed out April 20.
Pinal County Recorder Virginia Ross said she suspected there might have been a problem after hearing anecdotally that some Pinal residents did not receive a pamphlet before getting their early ballot. Ross said she didn’t get a pamphlet until last week.
She said she notified the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office, the agency responsible for mailing out the pamphlets, soon after becoming aware of the delay.
In the meantime, the Recorder’s Office posted links on social media to online versions of the pamphlets, Ross said, and physical copies were made available for voters to review in-person at the office, where early ballots can be dropped off.
