Over 2,200 uncounted ballots discovered at Maricopa County Elections facility

PHOENIX — More than 2,200 uncounted ballots from Tuesday’s jurisdictional elections in Maricopa County were discovered Friday morning, officials announced.

The discovery was made while equipment that had been used at voting locations was being inspected, according to the Maricopa County Elections Department (MCED).

The department said the inspection was part of its standard post-election process and included the unpacking and logging of equipment.

During the inspection of the equipment, officials found two sealed boxes that contained a total of 2,288 green ballot envelopes inside a blue drop box.

The boxes had been mistakenly placed into the drop box, instead of being returned to the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center on Tuesday night, as they should have per state law, the department said.

The boxes had not been tampered with, as the seals placed on the boxes were still intact, according to MCED.

The department added that a bipartisan team took custody of the boxes so that they could be signature-verified and counted.

Once the signatures are verified, the ballots will be included in the election results released later Friday, according to MCED spokeswoman Jennifer Liewer.

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