Despite reassurance from the Biden administration and election officials nationwide, there are reports of inaccurate voting tabulations in Maricopa County, Arizona. A Republican activist tweeted a video early Tuesday of an election worker explaining that a tabulation machine was rejecting ballots.
🚨🚨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
According to CNN, right-wing personalities are using the video to spread misinformation that the faulty voting machine is a sign of fraud. Is voting fraud happening in Arizona, or is it just ironic that reports show 20% of ballot counting machines in Maricopa County experienced technical errors on Election day? Election officials responded to frustration with faulty voting machines by saying they were working on the issue. Voters who were not accepted could put their ballots in a secure box. The votes would be counted after the polls closed.
Arizona GOP gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake is cashing in on the questionable voting machines. As the news spread, Lake gave a final push for her campaign, saying, “THIS is why we must reform our elections.”
The reports of faulty voting machines come as Maricopa County deals with an already tense Election day. Reports show the county has received more than 100 violent threats leading up to Midterm Election in 2022. According to Reuters, the threats were fueled by conspiracy theories. The armed militia has been placed at several polls in Arizona after the FBI identified the state as one of the top states for concerning threats. The state has been at the center of election misinformation since the 2020 presidential election. Biden became the first Democrat to win the state in more than 20 years.
The news of faulty voting machines also comes after Lake’s opponent, Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, runs for governor in an election she is also responsible for overseeing.
According to CNN, the chairman of the county’s Board of Supervisors, also a Republican, says the machines are not a sign of voter fraud. He says it is a technical issue.
The news of faulty machines is sure to cause a delay in results. Close elections in other key states, including Michigan and Pennsylvania, could also take days to tally.
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