3,100 Maricopa County ballots mailed early due to vendor error

PHOENIX - Early voting for the general election does not start for a couple more days, but some voters could be getting their ballots a little sooner than expected.

What we know:

A mailing error has led to some ballots already being sent out, despite the fact that early ballots are not supposed to be mailed out until Wednesday, Oct. 7.

The backstory:

The Maricopa County Recorder's Office says more than 3,100 ballots were mailed out on Oct. 1, which is six days ahead of schedule. The mistake was made by Runbeck Election Services and was not authorized by the County Recorder's Office.

What we don't know:

Officials didn't otherwise elaborate on what led to the erroneous send.

What you can do:

For voters who have already received a ballot, officials say the ballots are correct and were sent to the right voters. Voters can still fill them out and return them as normal. Any ballots that the County Recorder's Office receives before early voting begins will remain unopened and stored securely until processing begins.

"We did check with the Maricopa County Attorney. There is no reason voters should feel discomfort about the ballots. They are valid. they are absolutely free to put them back in the mail immediately. If that happens, they'll come to us, we'll put them in secure storage unopened, and then they will be scanned and signature verified and processed with the regular batch," said Maricopa County Recorder's Office Chief of Staff Sam Stone.

What's next:

Oct. 5 is the last day to register to vote in the November election.

Meanwhile, the Maricopa County Recorder's Office will be inspecting the process at Runbeck, starting on Monday. All other voters should receive their ballots after Wednesday.