Qualified suburban Phoenix council candidate left off ballot

PHOENIX — Hundreds of thousands of ballots started arriving in Arizona mailboxes this past weekend. For voters in Peoria, though, their ballots are missing a name.

Despite submitting the required number of valid signatures to quality for the Peoria City Council ballot, Dr. Ken Krieger’s name doesn’t appear on the ballot.

Krieger’s name appears in the official voter guide, but he said he received a call from a rival candidate informing him of the omission. It may be a first in state history.

The situation has left Peoria and Maricopa County officials scrambling for a solution, none of which are suitable to Krieger.

“People make mistakes but this is a stunner,” Krieger said. “And we can’t compound the mistake and trample democracy with ham-fisted solutions and finger pointing from one election official to another.

“I have knocked on hundreds of doors, collected hundreds of signatures and felt very good about my chances for success. This wrong needs to be righted immediately,” he said.

According to a statement, litigation is likely if election officials don’t resolve the problem.