Breaking: “Arizonans know BS when they see it.” Arizona Braces For Possible Recount After Machines Suffer Catastrophic Issues

phoenixnewtimes.com

Disclaimer:  This article may contain the personal views and opinions of the author.

After the debacle in Maricopa County in the 2020 presidential election, you would have thought that election officials would have everything working smoothly for the midterms. 

If you did, you would have been wrong. The November 8th midterm election was anything but smooth. 

“We’ve got about 20% of the locations out there where there’s an issue with the tabulator,” Maricopa Board of Supervisors Chair Bill Gates reported in an online video on Election Day. 

The most populous county in Arizona had issues with the ballot on-demand printers in approximately 70 vote centers which led to voters’ ballots not being counted by the machines.

The machines were rejecting voters’ completed ballots. County Recorder Stephen Richer advised voters to slide their ballots into a “secure box” below the tabulator to be collected and tabulated after being sent to Maricopa’s “central tabulators.” 

“This is actually what the majority of Arizona counties do on Election Day all the time,” Richer added.

With all of the irregularities making Maricopa County the focus of the midterms, people have questions and doubts about whether the election problems disenfranchised voters. 

Kari Lake, the Republican candidate for governor of Arizona, is disgusted with the problems voters experienced on Election Day tweeting on Tuesday, “Arizonans know BS when they see it.” 

She released a statement on Thursday telling her supporters, “I am still in this fight with you.” 

The Associated Press called the race for Democrat Katie Hobbs on Monday, November 14 but Lake has not conceded. 

She said: 

For two years, I’ve been sounding the alarm about our broken election system here in Arizona. And this past week has confirmed everything we’ve been saying. When we called for Katie Hobbs to recuse herself over a year ago, they ridiculed us. It turns out we were right. The fox was guarding the hen house. And because of that, voters have been disenfranchised.

When we raised concerns and I filed the lawsuit months ago to get rid of the electronic voting machines, they said we were crazy. Well, it turns out we were right. On election day, nearly half of all polling locations had problems with tabulating machines and printers. Malfunctioning tabulation machines forced voters to wait in line for hours to exercise their sacred right to vote.

She ended her message by saying, “My resolve to fight for you is higher than ever. This fight to save our republic has just begun. I love you, Arizona, and I love you, America.”

Some races are still too close to call and may go to a recount. These include the races for Arizona attorney general and superintendent of public instruction. 

According to the Secretary of State’s website, a recount is triggered if there is less than or equal to half of 1% of the total number of votes between the top two candidates.