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https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/sharpies-and-felt-tip-pens-on-arizona-ballots-wont-disqualify-votes-elections-officials-say/ar-BB1aHi5i
Sum Ting Wong here
Arizona Republic
Sharpies and felt-tip pens on Arizona ballots won't disqualify votes, elections officials say
Rachel Leingang and Jen Fifield, Arizona Republic 29 mins ago
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Arizona Republic logoSharpies and felt-tip pens on Arizona ballots won't disqualify votes, elections officials say
As the presidential election and several other races in Arizona remain close, election officials stressed that voters' ballots will be counted regardless of what kind of pen they used.
Elections departments across Arizona said there was no controversy over Sharpies and that they have processes in place to ensure ballots are counted regardless of what kind of utensil is used to fill them out.
Still, the office of Attorney General Mark Brnovich, a Republican, asked questions of the Maricopa County Elections Department in a letter on Wednesday, saying it had received “hundreds of voter complaints regarding the use of Sharpie brand markers” at voting centers.
The Maricopa County Elections Department says voters can use black or blue ink or Sharpies to fill out ballots in person. Their new tabulation machines this election, which were tested many times, will count ballots with these types of pens.
Additionally, concerns over a Sharpie bleeding through a ballot in Maricopa County should be alleviated by the ballot itself being offset, meaning it would not spoil a vote on the other side of the ballot, the county said in a video on Twitter explaining the use of Sharpies.
The county preferred Sharpies at vote centers because they dry quickly. Ballpoint ink can smudge onto optical readers or other ballots, creating issues, the county said.
Voters can check the status of their ballots beballotready.vote.
At a polling place in Queen Creek on Tuesday, a plainclothes Maricopa County Sheriff's deputy was sent to investigate and found that a woman was handing voters ballpoint pens with a flyer urging them to not use Sharpies. The woman was told to stop and agreed to leave. The spokeswoman said new optical reading equipment was brought to the site to ensure ballots were read correctly.
The reassurance comes after some voters say are concerned about how the ink from the Sharpies they were given at vote centers bled through on their ballot, and others who say their ballots were rejected at polling places.
Some Republican voters calling The Arizona Republic say they are worried that their votes wouldn't count.
Ric Serrano, for example, said he voted in Gilbert and had his ballot rejected multiple times by multiple machines. His ballot was eventually accepted by a machine. Poll workers started to give out black and blue pens, worried that it might be the pens causing the issues, he said.
Voters can check the status of their ballots beballotready.vote.
At a polling place in Queen Creek on Tuesday, a plainclothes Maricopa County Sheriff's deputy was sent to investigate and found that a woman was handing voters ballpoint pens with a flyer urging them to not use Sharpies. The woman was told to stop and agreed to leave. The spokeswoman said new optical reading equipment was brought to the site to ensure ballots were read correctly.
The reassurance comes after some voters say are concerned about how the ink from the Sharpies they were given at vote centers bled through on their ballot, and others who say their ballots were rejected at polling places.
Some Republican voters calling The Arizona Republic say they are worried that their votes wouldn't count.
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