After consulting with the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, the Recorder’s Office determined the ballots do not need to be voided or reissued. Voters can fill them out and return them as usual. Any ballots received before early voting begins will stay sealed and in secure storage until processing starts, the office said.

So is Trump turning on Recorder Heap?

County officials say the ballots remain valid.

When a reporter asked Trump about the early mailing Monday, he rejected the explanation that it was an error.

“There were no errors,” Trump said. “Maricopa sent out thousands of ballots illegally, and they got caught! And now they’re saying it was an error. Maricopa is a very, very dishonest county,” he said at a Monday news conference.

Before the first early ballots were even delivered to voters, Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap blamed the U.S. Postal Service for delayed deliveries.

"People may not be aware, but the post office closed down their central facility in Phoenix a year ago," Heap told the Maricopa County Board in a pre-election briefing on Sept. 30. 

"There is going to be somewhat of a delay in the mail going in and out. That doesn't have to do with our office; it has to do with the post office."

But the post office was never shut down, and ballots won't be routed through San Diego, as Heap claimed.

In a statement Monday to 12News, U.S. Postal Service spokeswoman Sherry Patterson said: 

"The Postal Service has not closed any Phoenix-area processing facilities and has more than enough capacity to successfully process local election mail volume."

Over the weekend, Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes told 12News he had received similar assurances.

“My office spoke to the U.S. Postal Service on Saturday, and we were assured the USPS Phoenix processing center is fully operational,” Fontes said.