County recorder's office hopes Spanish-language awarness program corrects mistakes

October 26, 2012

The Maricopa County Recorder’s Office is launching a Spanish-language voter awareness program, in hopes of avoiding possible confusion about the date of the Nov. 6 general election. This comes after County Recorder Helen Purcell announced that two pieces of printed information with the incorrect date had been distributed.  KJZZ’s Al Macias reports.

Maricopa County Recorder Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox and County Recorder Helen Purcell show the media a piece of collateral to be used in the Spanish-language awareness program. (Photo by Al Macias - KJZZ)



AL MACIAS: Purcell says about 30 voter I.D. cards were distributed at the Recorder’s main office. She says the cards are punched out of a sheet. The remnants of those sheets had election information in English and Spanish. The Spanish version listed Nov. 8 as Election Day instead of Nov. 6. In addition about 2,000 bookmarks with the incorrect date were distributed during the last several months. Purcell and several community leaders announced a Spanish-language campaign to make sure the correct information gets out.

COMMERCIAL: El dia sies de Noviembre es un dia muy importante, por que es el dia a salir a votar.

MACIAS: Announcements like this will air on local Spanish language radio and television stations. State senator Steve Gallardo said the Recorder’s office responded appropriately.

STEVE GALLARDO: I do want to thank Helen Purcell and Karen Osborn for working so quickly in fixing this printing error. It’s not a crime to make a printing error. It’s only a crime when you don’t do anything about it, and their rapid response to fix this and inform the public that Election Day is Nov. 6, is the right ting to do.

MACIAS: Purcell says her office has confirmed that all ballots and voter guides have the correct information. The county recorder said her office will spend about $30,000 on the outreach campaign.