Arizona polls printing problems slow down vote count and fuel conspiracy theories

PHOENIX (AP) — A printing malfunction at 60 polling places across Arizona’s most populous county slowed down voting Tuesday, but election officials assured voters that every ballot would be counted.

The issue sparked conspiracy theories about how the integrity of the vote was being determined in this pivotal state. Former President Donald Trump, Republican candidate for governor Kari Lake, and others claimed that Democrats were trying subvert the vote to Republicans, who tend not to show up in greater numbers on Election Day.

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Lake and several other candidates on the Arizona ballot have pushed false claims about the 2020 presidential race, amplifying Trump’s lies about a stolen election. But election officials from both political parties and members of Trump’s own Cabinet have said there was no widespread voter fraud and that Trump lost reelection to Democrat Joe Biden.

The Republican National Committee and the campaigns of Blake Masters (Republican Senate Candidate) filed an emergency motion to increase voting hours in Maricopa County. Arizona law allows anyone who is still in line to vote when the polls close.

“We have dozens of attorneys and thousands of volunteers on the ground working to solve this issue and ensure that Arizona voters have the chance to make their voices heard,” the RNC chairwoman, Ronna McDaniel, said in a statement.

This is a common problem in every election. Officials have plans to ensure that voting continues and that all ballots are counted.

The issue was printers that didn’t produce dark enough markings on ballots. This required election officials to modify the printer settings. Some voters tried to insert their votes into the tabulators, but were told to wait until then or to use another machine. These votes were expected Wednesday to be counted.

Stephen Richer, Maricopa County Recordser, apologized for the inconvenience.

“Every legal vote will be tabulated. I promise,” he said.

The issue affected approximately 25% of Maricopa County’s voting centres, which include metropolitan Phoenix. It was not immediately known how many ballots were affected.

Voters in the county are given a ballot for the precinct they live in. The races they can vote for are printed for them when they check in. The ballot allows voters to visit any county voting location. The voters then complete the ballot and place it in a tabulation device to count.

Some of the tabulators at 60 voting sites did not read the ballots because the printers did not produce what are known as “timing marks” dark enough to be read by the machines. Voters who had their ballots rejected were told they could try the location’s second tabulator, put it in a ballot box to be counted at the central facility later or cancel it and go to another vote center.

Arizona counties make it difficult to count ballots at the polling places. Officials bring the ballots into a central facility to be counted. The central location will count all ballots left in drop boxes.

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Voting was hampered in traditionally Democratic and Republican areas, particularly at an outlet mall in conservative Anthem. Some voters reported that they had to wait several hours before being able to vote using only one of the two tabulators.

Nearly half of the 232 countywide voting centers reported no wait by midday. Only 210 centers reported a wait of less than half an hour. Anthem’s location had a wait time of approximately an hour.

Phoenix voter Maggie Perini stated that she was able vote at a polling station on the other side. However, a man in line next to her had difficulty with his ballot at a different tabulator. He switched to the machine she used and the ballot went through.

“And then I know one woman who was coming out, she tried like four or five times for it to work and it wasn’t working,” said Perini. “And someone had told her she could leave her ballot and she’s like, No, no, no, no, no.”

Voter Michael McCuarrie said his ballot wasn’t read so he dropped it off to be counted later.
“Fine as long as the vote is counted,” said McCuarrie. “I don’t mind.”

Lake told reporters after she cast her ballot midday that she was “embarrassed for Arizona.”
“My advice is to stay in line. Don’t let this craziness stop you,” Lake said.

Bob Christie, an Associated Press writer, contributed to this report.