Voters, officials describe issues at some Pinal County polling sites

MARICOPA, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) -- Pinal County Elections Director David Frisk has been fired, and county leaders have appointed County Recorder Virginia Ross to the post. Frisk had only been on the job for five months. In recent weeks, Frisk has come under fire for problems with the primary.

“When I went in, I show them my ID and they go ‘we don’t have any Republican ballots,’” Pam Ingram said.

Ingram was one of a handful of Pinal County voters to reach out to Arizona’s Family on primary day after experiencing problems. She went back to that polling site later that afternoon. She almost couldn’t believe how long it took. “Never, never. Ever. That’s why I think everyone when they went to the polls was so shocked,” she said.

This comes just a few weeks after the county experienced problems with early voting. As Arizona’s Family reported, 63,000 ballots went out to seven cities and towns with missing or incorrect races on them.

The county determined the best fix was to have impacted voters fill out a second supplemental ballot. The problem only applied to municipal races. “Some that went to the polls were denied the supplemental ballot, so they didn’t vote for me,” said Vincent Manfredi, Vice Mayor of the City of Maricopa.

Manfredi said he heard from several supporters that poll workers weren’t properly trained and didn’t give voters that supplemental ballot. “It’s just city council; I actually heard that a few times,” Manfredi said. “Everything comes local, city council is important. So which person does it impact? We don’t know and you’ll never know that’s the craziest part,” he continued.

In announcing their decision, the Chairman of the County Board of Supervisors, Jeffrey McClure, wrote, “we are deeply embarrassed and frustrated by the mistakes that have been made…we are taking immediate steps to ensure the November election runs smoothly.”

Ross is a known entity in Pinal County. She’s been the recorder since 2012 and oversaw elections until 2017. It was then the county grew, and so did her responsibilities. The county then appointed an Elections Director. County leaders are holding a special session Friday at 11:15 a.m. to help appoint a new recorder to fill Ross’ seat.

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