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Politics

Trump assails Maricopa County over vendor mistake that mailed early ballots

Election officials confirmed the prematurely mailed ballots remain valid and will not affect voting outcomes.

Updated Oct 6, 2026 · 07:01 UTC2 reports

The short version

  • A commercial vendor mistakenly mailed over 3,000 early ballots to Maricopa County voters six days ahead of the scheduled release.[Associated Press]
  • Donald Trump criticized county officials on Monday, asserting the jurisdiction should be ashamed and calling it dishonest.[Associated Press]
  • County officials stated the valid ballots reached the proper voters and will not affect the election outcome.[Associated Press · ABC News]
  • Runbeck Election Services acknowledged the incident as an accidental human error when an unautomated pallet was released prematurely.[Associated Press]

Key facts

  • Runbeck Election Services mistakenly mailed 3,126 early ballots six days before the scheduled date due to a human handling error.[Associated Press · ABC News]
  • The Maricopa County Recorder's Office stated the ballots reached intended voters, remain valid, and can be submitted normally.[Associated Press · ABC News]
  • President Donald Trump responded to the incident by calling Maricopa County dishonest and stating it should be ashamed.[Associated Press · ABC News]
  • Maricopa County is an Arizona battleground with approximately 2.5 million registered voters.[Associated Press · ABC News]

What remains uncertain

  • While early reporting referenced about 3,000 ballots, vendor Runbeck specifically tallied the batch at 3,126 ballots.[Associated Press]

Sources

Outlet counts describe coverage, not independent confirmation. Reports may share a wire service or original source.