July 19, 2024

Microsoft outage affects election services in Maricopa, Pima counties

Voters in Pima County were issued provisional ballots at early voting sites.

360 vote here A vote here sign outside of a polling place in Tucson. November 2020.
John DeSoto/AZPM Staff

A worldwide outage affecting Microsoft customers is also affecting early voting in Maricopa and Pima counties ahead of the July 30 primary election.

Early voting in the primary election began on July 3.

According to the Maricopa County Elections Department, some in-person early voting locations are currently closed due to problems stemming from the Microsoft outage. The county directed voters to visit the elections department website to find up-to-date information about open locations and hours of operation.

July 19 is also the last day voters can request an early mail-in ballot for the upcoming primary, but Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer said the county’s early ballot request system was not affected by the Microsoft outage.

Voters can request an early ballot from the recorder’s website or by calling 602-506-1511.

According to Maricopa County, voters must mail those ballots back by July 23 or return them to a voting location or secure dropbox by Election Day.

The Maricopa County Recorder’s Office says its early ballot request system is not affected by the worldwide outage affecting Microsoft customers that has affected some voting services in Maricopa and Pima Counties.

The Pima County Recorder’s office issued a statement saying, as of late Friday morning, its services are slowly coming back online.

That office issued provisional ballots to Pima County voters at early voting sites.

"We have plans in place for events like this," Pima County Recorder Gabriella Cázares-Kelly said in the statement. "Our well-organized team launched a coordinated effort that allowed voters to access our services with little disruption."

According to the statement, staff will research each voter’s record to ensure they are eligible to vote before processing those provisional ballots.

KJZZ
This story was produced by KJZZ, the public radio station in Phoenix, Arizona.
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