SRP is recounting ballots after its election

By Katherine Davis-Young
Published: Tuesday, April 12, 2022 - 2:01pm

SRP building
Jean Clare Sarmiento/KJZZ
The SRP building in Tempe.

Salt River Project voters cast ballots last week in an election for some of the utility’s leadership positions. But now, SRP says it will recount the votes. 

In its election, SRP used a ballot counting software and a separate ballot scanning software. On election night, the scanner reached a pre-programmed limit and stopped scanning with dozens of ballots still left. A spokesperson for SRP said a software consultant identified the problem and was quickly able to reset the scanner. The spokesperson also said the scanning issue would not have impacted the election results since votes were counted separately.

SRP boards were scheduled to conduct a canvass on Monday to make election results official. But, out of an abundance of caution, board members voted instead to recount and rescan all of the ballots. SRP expects the recount process to be completed this week. New elected officials are expected to take office, as scheduled, in early May. 

The election was open only to some, land-owning SRP customers. The unofficial results indicate solar energy advocates gained seats in the vote.

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