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Pima County recorder, elections director explain drop-box emptying and replacement-ballot process
Summary
Board members pressed county elections leaders about a viral video of workers emptying an overfilled ballot drop box; the recorder explained the consolidated vote-by-mail process, chain-of-custody procedures, why observers were not used at replacement sites, and how the office responded to online threats against staff.
Pima County elected officials spent more than an hour on Nov. 18 pressing the county recorder and elections director for details about operations during the Nov. 4 consolidated vote-by-mail election, including an incident in which a ballot drop box on the East Side exceeded its capacity.
Supervisor John Christie asked why the recorder's office had handled ballot duplication and replacement rather than the Elections Department, why observers had not been present at replacement sites, and whether surveillance cameras should have detected an overfilled drop box. County Recorder said consolidated, vote-by-mail ballots are issued by the recorder while the Elections Department processes and tabulates ballots; replacement ballot locations act as extensions of the recorder's office and involve sensitive voter-registration files that are protected by state statute.
"We were alerted by voters that it was difficult to push the ballot affidavit in," the recorder said, describing the East Side box that reached nearly 3,000 envelopes in a container rated for 1,600. She said staff deployed an emergency bipartisan courier team who arrived within about 20 minutes, used the two-key system, transfer bags, zip ties and seals, documented the chain of custody and secured the ballots for transport.
The recorder said the camera angle at that location faced the rear of the box and did not clearly show the front where voters deposited envelopes. She added the office plans to install larger-capacity boxes and consider different siting and monitoring options.
On observers, the recorder said her office has never historically allowed observers at early-voting or replacement sites, that state statute does not mandate observers at those locations, and that intermittent staffing needs make an observers program difficult to operate. "Observers are always welcome and invited to be in our office when we're doing this," the elections director said, describing the separation of duties and processing steps that lead damaged ballots to a duplication team.
Board members repeatedly thanked the recorder's staff and the Elections Department and urged law-enforcement coordination after staff reported online death threats arising from the viral video. The recorder said the Secretary of State's office and the Arizona Counterterrorism Information Center alerted county staff; screenshots and web addresses were shared with the FBI and local police to support investigations.
The board did not adopt any new election rules at the Nov. 18 meeting; county officials said they would return with options to improve camera coverage, box capacity and public communication for future vote-by-mail operations.
