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FACT BRIEF

Were Maricopa County ballots ‘so blotchy from the printer that the scanner could not read’ them?

By Austin Tannenbaum
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NO

The cause of ballot processing issues in Maricopa County, Arizona during Election Day 2022 was not blotchy ballots but insufficiently dark ballot marks. A statement made by the county reads in part, "It appears some of the printers were not producing dark enough timing marks on ballots." As a result, voting machines were unable to properly scan the ballots.

In the same statement, the county reported, "County technicians have changed the printer settings, which seems to have resolved this issue," which affected about 60 voting locations.

Election officials permitted affected voters to either drop their ballot in a "secure slot" to be taken to a different facility for processing or spoil their ballot, sign out of their initial voting location and go vote elsewhere.

See a full discussion of this at Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
Maricopa County (Arizona) @maricopavote has identified the solution for the tabulation issues at about 60 Vote Centers.
Votebeat Arizona Maricopa County found a solution to its ballot-tabulating problem. Unscanned votes will still be counted.
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Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting
The Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting is the state’s only independent, nonpartisan and collaborative nonprofit newsroom dedicated to statewide, data-driven investigative reporting. AZCIR's mission is to hold powerful people and institutions accountable by exposing injustice and systemic inequities through investigative journalism.
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Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.