Recorder’s Office Acknowledges Early Mailing
The Maricopa County Recorder’s Office said Runbeck Election Services mistakenly mailed 3,126 early ballots six days before the scheduled October 7 mailing date, nearly a week before early voting was set to begin. Runbeck notified the office only after the mailing occurred, and the office stressed that it had not authorized the release. The Recorder’s Office also published Runbeck’s statement after the vendor declined to release it publicly. The office said that was the wrong call, putting Runbeck’s account in public view.
County Calls It a Timing Problem
County officials say the mistake involved timing, not the voters or races listed on the ballots. Their statement says the correct ballots went to the correct voters, that the ballots remain valid, and that no voters were adversely affected. Still, that explanation leaves an obvious accountability question: How did a private vendor mail thousands of ballots without approval? The episode also lands in a state with a recent history of election disputes. In 2022, more than 60,000 ballots with incorrect races were sent to voters ahead of the August primary. In 2024, Runbeck was accused of election-security violations, including commingling blank ballots with voted ballots. Kari Lake’s attorneys also alleged 2022 chain-of-custody discrepancies and tens of thousands of ballots that seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Those are allegations, not established findings in this article, but they help explain why another vendor mistake is drawing attention.
Trump Rejects the “Error” Explanation
Trump was asked about the mailing Monday and rejected the county’s description of it as an error. He called Maricopa County “crooked” and “very, very dishonest.” He then said, “There were no errors. You know that, right? There were no errors,” before adding that Maricopa had sent out thousands of ballots illegally and “they got caught.” His comments directly challenged the county’s account rather than treating the matter as a routine scheduling mistake. Kari Lake also called the incident a “so-called error” and asked whether Arizona voters are entitled to honest elections. The two sides are offering sharply different accounts: county officials say the correct ballots went to the correct voters too early, while Trump rejects that explanation and Lake calls for honest elections.
Today, Runbeck Election Services (RES) issued the following statement to the media.
We requested that in the interest of transparency they also post the statement publicly; however, they refused.
The MCRO believes this is the wrong call, so we are posting it publicly for them. pic.twitter.com/CslKTPzotr
— Maricopa County Recorder's Office (@RecordersOffice) October 4, 2026
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