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“It's a critical threat to the system,” said Gina Swoboda, a former Arizona Republican Party chair and unsuccessful secretary of state candidate who texted Trump about the issue. “It's about everybody being disenfranchised.”

There were 1,357 mail ballots that were marked undeliverable to Navajo County voters ahead of the Tuesday primary, Chief Deputy Recorder Jose Lerma said in a telephone interview on Thursday. 

The number is higher than previously known.

“All of these voters were sent a notice letting them know their mail was returned, and that was a forwardable letter, so hopefully get to them wherever they’re at so they can respond and let us know whether their address was correct or not,” Lerma said.

The mail-in ballot problem comes as battleground Arizona gears up for the Nov. 3 midterm election. Crucial statewide races for governor, attorney general and secretary of state are on the ballot this fall, and U.S. Rep. Eli Crane, R-Arizona, faces a challenge from Democrat Jonathan Nez.

Early ballots were sent through the U.S. Postal Service to Navajo County voters on June 24. The undeliverable ballots began coming back on June 30, Lerma said. Voters throughout the county were affected, according to Lerma.

The Arizona Republic reviewed a photo of an early ballot envelope that was addressed to a Navajo County address and marked by a yellow sticker that said: “Postage due return to send vacant unable to forward."

The envelope had been marked received on July 31, 2026, by the Navajo County Recorder's Office, although that date is in the future.

On Friday, the U.S. Postal Service responded to The Republic's request for comment.

"Local United States Postal Service management has engaged in conversations and email correspondence with the Navajo Country recorder since July 21 regarding 900 ballots that were returned out of a mailing of 40,000 (2.5 percent)," USPS spokesperson Sherry Patterson said, referring to the lower, previously disclosed number of 900 ballots. "The sample ballots examined were either undeliverable as addressed or the forwarding time had expired. When such conditions are present, the County has requested to have the ballots returned to them ('Return Service Requested'), so the Postal Service did so, in accordance with proper protocol.

"The Postal Service welcomes the opportunity to review any additional samples that the County would like to provide to ensure there are no unresolved issues."

Voters who did not receive their primary mail-in ballots would have needed to vote in person, either during the early voting period or on Election Day, Lerma said.

Swoboda said she worried that voters were disenfranchised, especially those who rely on mail-in voting because they cannot get to a polling place, or who were unaware that their ballot wasn't coming. Swoboda, an elections expert, lost the Republican primary for secretary of state on Tuesday.

The federal government is looking into the issue, Bloomberg reported.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment. In a recent prime-time address, Trump revived old election fraud claims and pushed lawmakers to pass the SAVE America Act, which would curtail mail-in voting, among other policy changes.

Earlier this month, Navajo County Recorder David Marshall told the county Board of Supervisors that 900 ballots had been marked undeliverable by the post office.

“A lot of our voters are upset about it. People are calling and saying, ‘My address is correct,’” Marshall said at a July 14 meeting. “The addresses, 99% of them are accurate according to our system, but we don't understand why it's not, they're not reaching their homes.”

Marshall, a Republican member of the far-right Arizona Freedom Caucus when he served in the state Legislature, took over the county recorder role in April. He replaced former Recorder Timothy Jordan, who resigned after pleading guilty to charges related to a road rage incident.

Marshall said that ballots were not reaching Show Low, Winslow and Snowflake, so he called the U.S. Postal Service to ask why ballots were being marked undeliverable.

“There was a misunderstanding that we were not paying our postage bills. We pay our postage bills,” Marshall said.

The County Recorder’s Office did not hear back from the Postal Service, Lerma said on Thursday. The Postal Service appeared to contradict that point in its Friday statement.

The local Democratic and Republican parties also called the impacted voters, Lerma said. Parties may purchase a curable ballot file, which includes information about voters who have issues with their ballots.

Navajo County voters cast 16,234 ballots in the primary, according to unofficial election returns. The county is home to 72,918 registered voters.

Roughly 42% of Navajo County residents are American Indian or Alaska Native, according to 2024 data from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 prohibits any election practice that denies the right to vote on account of race or ethnicity.

����Ӱ��AV officials said they are looking into the issue.

“We are seeking information on the situation to determine if a full investigation is warranted,” Attorney General Kris Mayes’ spokesperson Richie Taylor said in a text message.

Secretary of State Adrian Fontes also is working to gather more information, spokesperson Calli Jones said via text.

The Navajo County Recorder’s Office has not been contacted by Mayes’ office or any federal agencies, according to Lerma.