Man says he received election mailer for him and his late wife, elections office calls it an 'anomaly'

MARICOPA COUNTY, Ariz. - A Sun City man is voicing his concern over mail-in ballots after receiving official mail from the Maricopa County Elections Department addressed to his wife who died in 2018.

Alfred Viscusi received two election mailers: One for him and one for his late wife.

Maricopa County Elections officials say there are safeguards in place to prevent what happened and to prevent potential voter fraud.

"Just makes me wonder how crooked and how bad it could be out there with voting," Viscusi said, adding, "I know people that would definitely sign it and try to send it in."

Reynaldo Valenzuela, Maricopa County Elections Director, says they cross-reference their roster of registered voters with several agencies on a monthly basis, and Viscusi’s case is a rare miss, calling it an "anomaly."

Valenzuela says there are more than 2.2 million registered voters in Maricopa County, and more than 1.9 million are on the permanent early voter list, which means they receive their official ballots in the mail.

“When we send something like that or more importantly a ballot, 100% of those that come back to us they are signature verified against a known and vetted signature on file for that voter," Valenzuela said.

He says every signed correspondence and ballot goes through a three-tier verification system, explaining that “it is 100% human."

"We go through every two years a certified signature verification training with the same agency that trains the FBI," Valenzuela explained.

Maricopa County Elections officials also emphasize there is a tracking system for ballots and voters can sign up for text alerts which will show them when their ballot is received by elections officials.

For the past two decades, elections officials say the majority of registered voters in Maricopa County have voted early and by mail.

Early voting begins on Oct. 7.