Arizona’s Early Voting Thrown into Chaos by Global Computer Outage, Sparking November Election Fears

This article was originally published by Votebeat, a nonprofit news organization covering local election administration and voting access.

A global Microsoft-based computer outage early Friday crippled the electronic systems that Arizona’s two largest counties use for early in-person voting. Election officials swiftly implemented backup plans to keep early voting operational for the state’s primary election.

The breakdown disrupted the devices in Maricopa and Pima counties used for checking voters in, verifying eligibility, and printing ballots. However, it did not affect ballot-counting machines, which are not used during early voting since voters place completed ballots into envelopes to be counted later.

The incident occurred overnight. As polls opened, Maricopa and Pima counties responded differently. Maricopa opened only four of its 41 planned locations at 9 a.m., equiped with new devices. Pima opened all six planned sites on time at 8 a.m. but utilized provisional ballots. The impact on other Arizona counties remains unclear, though many reported no disruptions.

This outage occurred midway through the state’s early voting period for the July 30 primary election. Only 200 people were expected to vote in-person countywide in Maricopa County on Friday.

The malfunction exposed vulnerabilities in local election systems, which predominantly operate on Microsoft Windows. This raises critical questions about safeguarding against such failures during nationwide elections, particularly the upcoming November presidential election.

Counties like Maricopa and Pima rely entirely on electronic systems for voter check-ins and ballot printing without keeping printed voter rolls or pre-printed ballots on hand. Such dependencies necessitate robust backup plans.

The global outage was caused by a defective update from software security company Crowdstrike, affecting Microsoft’s Windows OS. The disruption extended to critical systems, including hospitals, airlines, 911 call centers, and financial institutions.

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) recommends Crowdstrike for detecting phishing attacks. In Maricopa County, only devices turned on during the update were impacted, according to county spokesperson Fields Moseley.

County IT staff worked overnight to address affected systems, including polling equipment. They chose to update unused ballot-on-demand printing systems and replaced malfunctioning devices at the polling places with the updated ones. By 1 p.m., 21 sites were operational, and by 3 p.m., nearly all sites were open. Fewer than 500 voters were expected at the 40 locations open on Saturday.

In Pima County, the outage disrupted voter check-in and eligibility verification systems, according to Recorder Gabriella Cázares-Kelly. As a workaround, poll workers called the main office to verify voter information before issuing provisional ballots. The issue was resolved by 10:45 a.m., with remote fixes to the polling place equipment.

During the outage, provisional ballots were used to ensure voter eligibility was verified before counting. “We have plans in place for events like this,” said Cázares-Kelly. “Our coordinated effort allowed voters to access services with minimal disruption.”

The Arizona Secretary of State’s Office offered IT support to counties and confirmed that the outage did not affect vote counting in the state.