Ellington denies intentional misconduct
Jeff EllingtonRunbeck Election Services president and CEO
Ellington acknowledges the mistake and explicitly denies that Runbeck intentionally released the packets early.
Responding to
The early ballot release resulted from an accidental mailing error, not intentional misconduct.
“It was pure accident, just a human error ... We regret it. But it was by no means intentional.”
Official statement
Reporting
Where this statement fits
Was Maricopa County's early ballot mailing deliberate misconduct, as Donald Trump claimed?
Runbeck mailed 3,126 Maricopa County ballots six days before the scheduled date. Donald Trump called the county dishonest and rejected the explanation of an error. Runbeck's CEO denied intentional misconduct, while other officials and commentators disputed the incident's meaning.
Source and context
Official statement
About this source
Runbeck says 3,126 vote-by-mail packets reached the Postal Service on October 1, six days before schedule, when a pallet was included with mail released that evening. It says the packets are valid and that it added verification steps for staged mail.
Reporting
About this source
The report was first published October 4 and updated October 5, although the URL contains October 6. It quotes Ellington's denial and Richer's explanation of the error.
Before the quotation
Trump and others have criticized the early release and rejected the explanation of an error.
After the quotation
Ellington also says Maricopa County was not at fault.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The reference point is the claim that the early ballot mailing was deliberate misconduct. Ellington calls the release a "human error" and says it was "by no means intentional", which expressly rejects the claim. The closest competing label, Challenged the characterization, loses because he says the alleged intent did not exist rather than only disputing a description.
- Recorded on
- Published here
More from this case
Read the full caseLake endorses Trump's account
“President Trump says this was "no error," and he calls Maricopa County "very dishonest." ... He is 100% correct.”Read statement
Hamadeh disputes the isolated-error framing
“This isn't their first "mistake." ... One error is incompetence. A pattern is a system.”Read statement
Richer challenges Trump's interpretation of the mailing
“it was a mistake with no real harm attached to it ... It doesn't seem like (Trump) even really understood what was going on with the situation.”Read statement
Cite this record
- Publisher
- The Dispute Index
- Title
- Ellington denies intentional misconduct
- First published
- Last updated
- Permalink
- https://disputeindex.com/events/5091-ellington-acknowledges-the-mistake-and-explicitly-denies-that
Last updated marks the most recent saved version of this published statement.
The Dispute Index. "Ellington denies intentional misconduct". First published: 2026-10-07. Last updated: 2026-10-07. https://disputeindex.com/events/5091-ellington-acknowledges-the-mistake-and-explicitly-denies-that