Election officials warn of paper shortage causing problems for U.S. midterms

Experts and election officials are warning counties across the United States to order paper in plenty of time for their midterm elections, citing a paper shortage that may cause significant problems in providing critical voting materials for the 2022 elections.

Amid global supply chain disruptions and increasing cost of materials, some Texas election materials reached voters late for the election last week. There’s not only the paper shortage, but the cost of the paper,” said Aaron Flannery of the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office. 

The National Association of Counties met to discuss the looming paper shortage issues and their potential impact on scheduled elections all across the country this year. The most effective way to prevent such delays and disruptions in voting is to order paper early in order to print ballots, envelopes, inserts, “I Voted” stickers and other voting materials.

The global labor shortage is also affecting the availability of paper and the efficiency of shipping paper orders.