On Thursday, a legislative panel inquired about Maricopa County where printers struggled to handle ballots, causing delays and frustration in recent elections.

Republican lawmakers questioned former Supreme Court Judge Ruth McGregor who investigated the county’s printer problems in 2022. She repeated what she had included in her independent report —  some printers failed and needed to be replaced, but all legal votes were counted. 

Rep. Alexander Kolodin (R-Scottsdale) says he’s unsure the county is making sure printer issues never recur.

“The best way to reassure somebody is to actually just fix the problem, and we’re a ways away from that, and it sounds like Maricopa might not be on the right track to do that. That’s certainly going to require more diligence from this committee and from House elections when session resumes” Kolodin said.

“Or they may be on precisely the right track,” McGregor responded.

The county didn’t have a representative at the hearing. Kolodin said the Legislature reached out to the county, but they said they couldn’t send anyone.

Rep. Neal Carter (R-San Tan Valley) was also on the small panel. He said he doesn’t know if any legislation will come out of the hearing, but he is happy to hear testimony on elections issues because constituents lack confidence in Arizona elections.

Kolodin said that since printer problems have occurred in 2018, 2020 and 2022 — to varying degrees of severity — the issue seems to be pervasive. 

In 2018, then-Maricopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes said the issues were normal, and they didn’t affect many ballots. But in 2022, several voting centers had ballot problems that lasted much longer and affected more voters.

“I feel like we don't necessarily know enough yet. The one thing, I’m thinking we might introduce is legislation to require certain testing,” Kolodin said. He wants to make sure that different types of ballots are thoroughly tested before elections to prevent problems in 2024.