A 2022 General Election Internal Review, dated July 26, identified the malfunctioning OKI ballot-on-demand printers at many of the county's 223 vote centers as the primary cause of the problems experienced on Election Day. The report also noted that the size of the print image projected on the paper contributed to the issues.
According to a representative from the Maricopa County Elections Department, 72 percent of the polling locations used OKI printers, while 25 percent used Lexmark printers, and 3 percent used both types.
July 31, 2023
The county's report revealed that between 32 and 34 percent of the ballots printed on Election Day could not be read by the tabulators at the polling locations due to various issues related to the ballot-on-demand printers, primarily the thickness of the paper used. This led to long lines at many polling sites as tabulators struggled to read the printed ballots.
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During the election challenge trial in December, Mark Sonnenklar, a lawyer for the Republican National Committee, testified that his team of attorneys found these problems occurring in 132 locations, or approximately 59 percent of all polling sites.
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July 31, 2023
The county, however, reported the figure to be 70 locations, according to The Washington Post. Sonnenklar argued that these tabulator issues at the vote centers significantly impacted the outcome of the election, with Republican nominee Kari Lake losing to Democrat Katie Hobbs by only 17,000 votes. He stated, "There's no question in my mind that had there not been tabulator issues at 132 vote centers, this election would have ended up with Kari Lake winning."
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The findings of the county's 2022 General Election Internal Review align with the conclusions of former Arizona Supreme Court Justice Ruth McGregor, who conducted an independent review of the Election Day events.
McGregor's report, submitted to the county in April, stated, "Based on our tests, and for the reasons described in this report, we concluded that the combined effect of using 100-pound ballot paper and a 20-inch ballot during the 2022 general election was to require that the Oki B432 printers perform at the extreme edge of their capability, a level that could not be reliably sustained by a substantial number of printers."
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In response to McGregor's report, OKI, the manufacturer of the printers, wrote a letter to Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell in May expressing disappointment that they were not contacted during the investigation. OKI disputed McGregor's statement that the printers were not capable of reliably printing 20-inch ballots on 100-pound paper under election-day conditions.
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The company argued that its manual clearly stated that the printer, as configured on Election Day, could only handle up to 80-pound paper. OKI claimed that the use of 100-pound paper without consulting them or reviewing the manual was a human error and suggested that the county's failure to consult them prior to using the paper caused the election issues.
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OKI further criticized the McGregor report, stating that it contained factual inaccuracies that could be used by their competitors to discredit their printers. The company emphasized the importance of consulting them to discuss design specifications and explore alternatives. OKI concluded that the report could cause significant harm to their reputation in the election printer market.
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In a response to OKI's letter, Mitchell explained that she did not view the McGregor report as placing blame on the printers but rather as highlighting how the Election Department pushed the printers to their limits. Mitchell also downplayed the Election Day problems, noting that only 16,724 ballots out of approximately 250,000 cast on November 8 could not be tabulated at polling places due to printer issues.
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These ballots were later counted at the central vote processing facility in downtown Phoenix. Mitchell acknowledged that voters were inconvenienced by the tabulator and printer issues but refuted claims of a massive failure of printers at vote centers.
OKI wrote another letter to Mitchell in July, reiterating that 80-pound paper was the maximum that could be used for duplex printing. The company suggested that a more thorough review of the manual or consultation with an OKI representative would have clarified this.
In response to the printer malfunction issue, Kari Lake, the Arizona GOP nominee, criticized the McGregor report, stating that it was not a genuine investigation and accused Maricopa County of coordinating a PR effort to absolve themselves of any guilt. Lake called on the county to explain why four out of the ten printers they tested randomly printed 19-inch ballot images on 20-inch paper during testing.
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