Sharpies will not invalidate your ballot, Maricopa County officials say

PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) - There has been quite a bit of speculation on whether Sharpies could cause voters' ballots to be tossed out. 

Viewers have reached out to Arizona's Family concerned their vote might not count. 

To set the record straight, Arizona's Family spoke to Erika Flores, spokeswoman for the Maricopa County Elections Department. 

Flores said voters can use one of three types of writing utensils to cast their ballots:

• Black pen
• Blue pen
• Sharpie

You read that correctly. Sharpies are allowed. That's because the new tabulation equipment counts votes in a such a way that bleed-throughs are not a problem. "I am not aware of any ballots that have been canceled because of the use of Sharpies," Flores said.

Not only are Sharpies accepted when filling out a ballot in Arizona, they are preferred. That's because Sharpies have the fastest drying ink.

Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs announced in a tweet on Wednesday afternoon that all votes will be counted, no matter what kind of pen was used, even a sharpie.

"I've also seen a lot of people saying 'my ballot hasn't been counted. We don't tell you when your ballot's been counted because your ballot's secret," said Hobbs. "And there is no way on the ballot to say, 'oh yeah this bar code says it's Sally-Ann's ballot' because they're secret ballots."

The one color you do need to worry about is red ink. The tabulation equipment can't read red ink.

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich announced on Wednesday afternoon that his office has received more than 500 voter complaints about Sharpies at polling locations. 

"When you get a lot of, like, rumors, innuendos and you have a contested election, the people just have to be confident in the process," said Brnovich. "And I think they should be confident that we're going to do the right thing regardless of where the politics take us."

Brnovich is asking for the Maricopa County Election Department to investigate the claim that Sharpies may have caused ballots to be rejected, spoiled or cancelled. Read the entire letter here.

The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors said it's sending out a letter to voters hoping to stop the misinformation about using Sharpies on ballots.

"Sharpies are recommended by the manufacturer because they provide the fastest-drying ink. The offset columns on ballots ensure that any bleed-through will not impact your vote," Clint Hickman, chairman of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, said in the letter.

The full letter can be read below or here.

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