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Update from Maricopa County, AZ
I drove to my local polling place in Mesa, AZ, boldly strode in, and dropped off my ballot. The turnout was very large for an off-time (2:30 p.m.); there were no problems with the machines; voters, volunteers, and workers were all happy and friendly.
Many other voters in Maricopa County, however, weren’t so lucky. This is the largest county in Arizona, containing Phoenix, its many suburbs, and more than 60% of the state population. Following two years of “stop the steal” recounts and a low-trust environment, one would think the Republicans running the county’s voting operations would have been ready. You would have been wrong.
An estimated 27% of polling places had problems with one or both of their tabulation machines.
🚨🚨A poll worker in all-important Maricopa County tells Election Day voters the machines are broken. pic.twitter.com/meBTd4Vi2M
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) November 8, 2022
County officials now say they have determined the source of the error and are correcting it.
.@maricopavote has identified the solution for the tabulation issues at about 60 Vote Centers. County technicians have changed the printer settings, which seems to have resolved this issue. It appears some of the printers were not producing dark enough timing marks on ballots. 1/
— Maricopa County (@maricopacounty) November 8, 2022
Despite the error, I believe that the votes will be counted. GOP election lawyers are all over this vote count and will aggressively challenge any shenanigans. Ricochet favorite Harmeet Dhillon is heading up that effort:
Latest guidance for Maricopa County voters:
If you’ve *checked in* at a Maricopa County voting location where tabulators don’t work, you should *not* leave & go to another location without casting a vote. Your provisional ballot at new location likely will not count/cont’d/
— Harmeet K. Dhillon (@pnjaban) November 8, 2022
You had one job, Maricopa County. You failed at it. Everyone involved should turn in their resignations. This cannot happen in a purportedly first-world county.
Update (7 p.m. ET): Harmeet has filed a lawsuit. PDF here.
Published in General
Florida is the third most populous state, and had all its counting done and results out in one day.
Arizona has no excuse.
Florida was embarrassed in 2000 and took steps to correct the problems. Arizona and Pennsylvania should have been embarrassed in 2020 but because they got the media’s desired result, nothing was changed. Pennsylvania won’t fix anything. If Kari Lake manages to win, Arizona will work to solve its election problems.
Ironic.
It’s an assumption. I’d wager the media will call for corrections to happen if Lake wins. Maybe a nod to two sketchy elections in a row, but the catalyst will be a Lake win. If Hobbs wins, the same line about we took time and made sure every vote was counted will be trotted out.
“We made sure every vote was counted, especially the illegal ones!”