Gates, Chairman of the Maricopa Board of Supervisors, speaks about the voting machine failure at the Maricopa County Voting and Tabulating Center on Tuesday in Phoenix, Ariz.
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Gates, Chairman of the Maricopa Board of Supervisors, speaks about the voting machine failure at the Maricopa County Voting and Tabulating Center on Tuesday in Phoenix, Ariz.
John Moore / Getty Images
Follow live updates and results of the 2022 midterm elections here.
About a fifth of polling places in Maricopa County, Ariz., experienced technical problems with their voting machines in the early hours of Election Day — but officials say ballots will still be counted. computing, thanks to their redundancy protocols.
“We have about 20% of places there that have problems with the tabulator,” Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Gates said in a video update. post online. Describing the problem, he said that after some voters filled out their ballot, the machine wouldn’t accept it.
The issue is quickly being used by far-right influencers as fuel for their claims that the 2022 midterm elections are susceptible to electoral fraud, according to the Election Integrity Partnership, a research coalition. focus on misinformation surrounding the election.
“Attention spiked after a tweet from Charlie Kirk, which invigorated those who assumed these mechanical failures were intentional,” The research team said.
“It is likely that these stories of mechanical failures will gain traction in other states,” said the Electoral Integrity Partnership, adding that influencers and Their audience is looking to amplify such stories.
Gates said election officials are working on a solution. In the meantime, voters can slide their ballot into a “safe box” directly below the tabulator, he said.
Here’s a message from President Bill Gates and Stephen Richer Recorder with an update to @maricopacounty voters on Election Day. pic.twitter.com/OkQczCklGb
– Maricopa County Elections (@MaricopaVote) November 8, 2022
Those ballots will be collected and sent to Maricopa’s “central editors,” said County Recorder Stephen Richer.
“This is really what most Arizona counties do on Election Day,” added Richer.
Although the exact nature of the problem in Maricopa County is not known, it is not uncommon for machine malfunctions and other voting problems to arise at election time, when millions of people rush to cast their ballots. promissory note.
Such mistakes can lead to a range of reactions from politicians and experts, from encouraging voters to tolerate delays to suggesting problems are signs of a coordinated conspiracy.
Far-right figures from Arizona state senate candidate Blake Masters to Republican National Committee member Tyler Bowyer tweeted about the issue on Tuesday. Former President Trump – who has spent the past two years doubting and mistaking the US electoral system – also weighed in when he said that in Maricopa, problems were reported in GOP-leaning areas.
“Are we here?” Trump spoke on the Truth Society platform. “The people will not stand it!!!”
“It’s hard to tell if we’re seeing incompetence or something worse,” Master wrote. “All we know right now is that Democrats are hoping you’ll get discouraged and go home.”
The issue also becomes central in the race for governor: Republican Lake Kari is a person who refuses to vote who is running against Democrat Katie Hobbs (current secretary of state).
