Gila County Recorder Sadie Bingham and her staff are fielding phone calls this week from voters puzzled by oversized ballots that aren’t an exact fit within return envelopes provided.

The ballots fit, and the ballot itself should not be folded abnormally. Fold the ballot, slide it into the envelope, then fold the envelope flap snugly over the enclosed ballot. The envelope to be slightly taller, but still valid for postal delivery.

Bingham said the surge in propositions and candidates this year resulted in ballots that are larger than normal.

“When we received the ballots earlier this month, we noticed they were not folded as usual. Long story short: the ballots do not fit correctly into the ballot affidavit, which is the envelope a voter uses to mail the ballots back to us,” she said. “We remind voters that the Recorder’s Office does not design the ballot or decide how they’re folded and want to assure voters they can still fold the envelope and seal it and their ballot will be secured.”

Vote-by-mail ballots aren’t the only oversized surprise with the Nov. 6 election. If turnout on election day matches the surge in new voter registrations and requests for early voting, November’s second Tuesday could set records. Bingham said that as of Oct. 11, her office had mailed 20,158 ballots, with new requests arriving daily.

Gila County registered 199 new voters within the deadline on the final day to sign-up last week.

“This is unprecedented, we never have that kind of turnout,” Bingham said. “We also registered approximately 100 people in our offices in Globe and Payson on Oct. 9. This pace, and these numbers, are more typical of a presidential election year.”

Bingham reminds voters that early ballots can be delivered by postal service or dropped off in-person at either of the Gila County Recorder Offices in Globe and Payson.

For more information, call 928-402-8740 for staff in Globe, or 928-474-7198 in Payson. Keep up with elections news at facebook.com/gilacountyrecorder.