Proposition 124 ballots to be reprinted after error discovered in Maricopa County

PHOENIX — Arizona Secretary of State Michele Reagan said on Friday Maricopa County will be reprinting hundreds of thousands of ballots for a May special election after an error was discovered on the Spanish version.

Proposition 124, which would allow retirement benefits to adjust with cost of living, will be one of two ballot issues voters will be casting their ballots on in the election.

But just weeks before voters will hit the polls, members of the “Yes on 124” committee discovered a typo that could lead to a major error on the Spanish version of the ballot.

David Leibowitz, a Spokesman for Yes on 124, said the error mixes up the proposition with Proposition 123, which would set up a long-term funding system for K-12 education.

“It looks like as many as 1.4 million ballots in Maricopa County have a mistake in the Spanish language description of Prop 124,” he said.

In a statement, Arizona Secretary of State Michele Reagan said she was “disappointed” to learn of the error, but said there would be a reprint of the Spanish ballots.

“We’re pleased that Maricopa County has agreed to reprint 700,000 polling place ballots and send a postcard notifying voters as to the error to 1.3 million voters who received an early ballot,” the statement read.

The English version of the ballot is correct, Leibowitz said, but the error on the Spanish version could cause some confusion.

“If you’re reading the Spanish language of the ballot, it’s ‘Muy Bien,’ except for the section that identifies Prop 124 as being about education,” he said. “So there’s just a headline that’s wrong. The text below it is correct.”

The error comes at a bad time for Maricopa County, which is currently under federal investigation after a shortage of polling locations in the March presidential preference election caused voters to wait in hours-long lines and reportedly targeted minority communities.

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