Maricopa County Recorder explains what happens to a mail-in ballot after being dropped off

The recorder says he's glad the president is raising concerns over mail-in ballots because it gives him a chance to clarify any misconceptions.

MARICOPA COUNTY, Ariz. - The Maricopa County Recorder says he's glad that President Donald Trump is raising concerns about mail-in voting so that he can clarify them to the public.

Adrian Fontes explains what happens once a voting ballot is dropped off at a mail collection box.

"All of those ballots are going to go through the same scrutiny as the rest of the ballots go through because that’s the nature of the business," Fontes explains.

He explains the process further, saying, "First of all, I’m really glad that the president is helping opening up these questions so we can help voters understand the security and the verifiability and the validity of our system."

Fontes says all ballot drop boxes in Maricopa County are in secure locations and under 24/7 surveillance.

Once they are picked up by bipartisan boards, they are sent to get counted the same way as they would if you went into a voting location to cast your vote.

"The ballots don’t get taken out of the envelopes except for in front of a bipartisan citizen. That’s why we need more folks working at the warehouse right because we need to staff these boards and before they get to go for a signature verification process on the envelope, they go through two separate signature verification by a human being and each batch gets a third level audit from a manager that’s been doing this for quite some time," Fontes explained.

Arizona's Secretary of State, Katie Hobbs, says voting misinformation is the biggest thing election officials deal with across the country, on top of outsiders working to disrupt the voting system.

For more information on the voting process in Arizona, visit this link.

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