Republican leaders call for Pinal County elections chief to resign after ballot shortfall
Aug 3, 2022, 9:45 AM
(Facebook Photo/Pinal County Elections Department)
(Facebook Photo/Pinal County Elections Department)
PHOENIX – Republican leadership in Arizona and on the national level are calling for the resignation of the Pinal County elections director after some voting locations ran out of ballots in Tuesday’s primary.
“This is a comprehensive failure that disenfranchises Arizonans and exemplifies why Republican-led efforts for transparency at the ballot box are so important. Pinal County Elections Director David Frisk should resign immediately,” Republican Party of Arizona Chair Kelli Ward and Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel said in a press release.
Join us in asking for the resignation of Pinal County Elections Director David Frisk.
What has happened over the last few weeks is absolutely unacceptable. The people of Pinal deserve better. https://t.co/E4M3ol8SJm
— Republican Party of Arizona (@AZGOP) August 3, 2022
The county acknowledged some precincts didn’t have enough ballots and voters had to wait while more ballots were printed and distributed to the affected polling sites.
Pinal County elections officials said there was an “unprecedented demand for in-person ballots.”
Due to unprecedented demand for in-person ballots, Pinal County has experienced a ballot shortage in certain, limited precincts. Pinal County is continuing to print additional ballots and distributing them to each affected precinct polling place.
— Pinal County – Government 🌵 (@PinalCounty) August 2, 2022
The ballot shortage isn’t the first Pinal County issue during this election cycle.
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Officials had to scramble after tens of thousands of voters were sent incorrect early mail ballots.
About 46,000 ballots mailed to voters in Casa Grande, Eloy, Maricopa, Mammoth and Superior, plus the Pinal County portions of Apache Junction and Queen Creek were missing municipal contests.
The part of Apache Junction and Queen Creek in Maricopa County were not affected.
Frisk was appointed in March. He had been an elections official in Washington state, according to a brief biography on the county website.
The Pinal County Board of Supervisors planned to answer questions about the difficulties Wednesday afternoon following their regularly scheduled meeting.
