Arizona Secretary of State Rectifies Primary Result Mistakes for Green Party Contenders

The Arizona Secretary of State’s Office announced corrections to its initial primary election results, which inaccurately identified Green Party candidates eligible for November’s election. This development comes after an internal review revealed significant errors, particularly affecting seven Green Party races.

A spokesperson from the Secretary of State’s Office cited an outdated electronic reporting system and an overwhelmed staff as primary factors contributing to the inaccuracies during the proofreading process. “We need more people and updated systems, which requires action by state and federal legislatures,” stated Aaron Thacker, the office’s communications director.

On Friday, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, a Democrat, recertified the primary election results following these corrections. The initial canvass mistakenly named the wrong winner in the Green Party’s U.S. Senate primary, omitting write-in candidate Eduardo Quintana, who had received the most votes. Additionally, it neglected to recognize seven other write-in candidates eligible to advance to the general election.

These errors stemmed from a misunderstanding of the rules governing write-in candidates’ eligibility for the general election. Under state regulations, new parties, such as the Green Party, do not have the same vote thresholds as established parties for their write-in candidates to qualify for the November ballot.

Thacker noted that the Green Party had alerted the state elections director about the discrepancies after the initial results were finalized. “No one recognized that status change at first because the Green Party has been around for so long,” Thacker explained, highlighting the confusion surrounding the party’s eligibility status.

Despite the office’s established proofreading processes involving multiple layers of checks, the staff had been stretched thin, working intensively on verifying a historical number of signatures for upcoming ballot initiatives. In light of these complications, Thacker indicated that the office intends to request additional personnel and updated technology in next year’s budget, alongside plans for enhanced training and more redundant systems to minimize future human errors.