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School
district question omitted from 465 ballots
by
Kathleen Stinson
SCOTTSDALE
– A school district issue going before voters in November could
turn out to be
a ballot crisis, as Maricopa County elections officials reported
they sent out hundreds of wrong
ballots to three northeast Scottsdale precincts.
Elections
personnel, however, say they have taken corrective action. But
they still need to be
watchful in the event voters fill out and mail in the wrong ballots
instead of the correct, replacement ballots.
The
incorrect ballot did not contain the question which asks whether
voters want to form their own school district or join the Cave
Creek Unified School District.
“When
we drew the boundary lines for special voting districts, we didn’t
get all of the precincts included,” explained Yvonne Reed, spokeswoman
for the Maricopa County Elections Department.
Portions
of the Rio Verde, Pinnacle Peak and Pinnacle Vista precincts in
the unorganized territory
got the wrong ballot, she said. In total, the elections department
mailed 465 wrong early ballots.
Troon
resident and activist Graham Kettle earlier this month brought
the error to the attention of election officials. “It makes the
whole thing more complicated,” Kettle said of the error. “Unfortunately,
they didn’t catch it sooner.”
Voters
in Troon, Desert Highlands and the Rio Verde Foothills area are
slated to vote on the issue.
Reed
said voters who received the wrong early ballot in the mail will
be sent a correct ballot along with a letter explaining the error.
Assistant
Elections Director Mitch Etter said all wrong early ballots the
department receives will not be counted. They will be stored in
a state vault for two years in case the ballot glitch is challenged
in court and those ballots are needed as evidence. This procedure
is required by federal elections law, he noted.
Etter
advises that anyone who received a wrong ballot and has not mailed
it in should destroy the ballot.
“The
last of the replacement ballots should have gone out in the mail
(last) Friday or Saturday,” Etter said.
Any
registered voter in the three named precincts who has not received
a new ballot should call: (602) 506‑1569.
Reach
the reporter at kathleen@thedesertadvocate.com.
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