The state Democratic Party is slamming Maricopa County election officials who decided not to try to verify questionable signatures on some early ballots.
Spencer Scharff of the Democratic Party says the county recorder's office isn't following procedures outlined in the state election procedures manual. That manual says election officials must make a reasonable effort to contact early voters if there are questionable signatures before discarding their ballot.
Recorders office spokeswoman Elizabeth Bartholomew says the county did call voters whose early ballots had missing signatures or ones that didn't match what was on file. But she says that the law doesn't allow officials to do that for ballots dropped off on election day.
Scharff says that position misinterprets state law.
Bartholomew says there about 1,400 ballots in all affected.
