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Report: paper changes caused Maricopa County election printer failure

FILE - An election worker boxes tabulated ballots inside the Maricopa County Recorders Office, Nov. 9, 2022, in Phoenix. Problems with ballot printers that caused lines to back up at some Phoenix-area polling places last year were not caused by malicious actions but by changes to the paper, a retired Arizona Supreme Court justice concluded in a report released Monday, April 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)
Matt York/AP
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AP
FILE - An election worker boxes tabulated ballots inside the Maricopa County Recorders Office, Nov. 9, 2022, in Phoenix. Problems with ballot printers that caused lines to back up at some Phoenix-area polling places last year were not caused by malicious actions but by changes to the paper, a retired Arizona Supreme Court justice concluded in a report released Monday, April 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)

A former Arizona Supreme Court justice says changes to the paper caused an issue with ballot printers that led to long lines at some Phoenix-area polling places last year.

Retired Justice Ruth McGregor concluded that longer ballots on thicker paper pushed some printers to the edge of the capabilities. She says the issue may have been missed in pre-election testing because it didn't properly mimic the stresses that printers experience on Election Day.

But she says nothing in her review suggests the problems should have been anticipated.

Failed gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake and other Republicans have blamed their losses in part on the printer problem.