It was a simple printing bug that caused some vote tabulating simple machine to reject vote on Election Day in Maricopa County , Arizona , harmonise toa reportreleased Sunday from the county ’s Elections Department .
Disinformation spread rapidlyon November 8 , when some ballot machine in the Southwest body politic ’s most populous county glitched out . However , counter to many Republican conspiracy theories , the technological issue did n’t cause any problems with final balloting numeration or election unity , the Elections Department indicate .
Poll workers and election officials instructed voters whose ballots were rejected to either put their ballots into “ Box 3″ or “ Door 3″ for counting at the cardinal facility , or to go to one of the numerous other open voting locations around the county if they preferred . In entire , just 16,724 ballots end up in Box 3 , representing about 1 % of all ballots cut during the 2022 worldwide election , said the paper . And all of those eligible ballots were securely tallied using the land ’s longstanding back - up system of rules .
An election worker at the Maricopa County Recorders Office verifies a printed ballot against a digital version.Photo:Matt York(AP)
Transferring ballots from polling stations to a primal counting facility is a common practice throughout Arizona . The method is even used as the criterion in eight counties , noted the report . But that did n’t stop right-hand - wing pundits like Donald Trump Jr. and Turning Point USA ’s Charlie Kirk from jumping on the machine issue to spread suspicion in an already litigious election round .
“ The secure Door 3 selection has been a ten - long practice in Maricopa County . Despite this being a legal , unafraid , and reliable voting alternative , many in high spirits visibility and influential individuals learn voters to not lodge their ballots in Door 3 ( showing : # doorway 3 ) . therefore , some voters defy to use this viable voting pick , ” register the Sunday report . Specifically , 206 elector checked - in at one locating and then cast a voting in another—193 of which were reassert to have changed polling stations after a ballot simple machine issue and had their vote counted .
What caused the glitch?
Though “ root cause psychoanalysis ” is still ongoing , the Maricopa County Elections Department noted a couple unlike things come out to conduce to the ballot read issue . The main exit was that some new model and retrofitted printers were create ballot that could n’t be register by the tabularise machines , even under the previously approved configurations . Basically : the printer were produce balloting that were too lite .
The authority reported no other problems with the voting lector or the printers . However , some balloting were eliminate by tabulation political machine because of how they were marked . Ballpoint penitentiary or thin marking instead of fill - in oval make about 1,600 of the ballot issues .
On Election Day , officials found that a small adjustment in the printers ’ fuser background resolved the job . Of the county ’s 223 Vote Centers , 43 are confirm to have get the printing machine issue , and technician visited 71 dissimilar sites to repair the pressman scene — in many cases pre - emptively before any difficulties come up .
“ Once distinguish , we began guiding pate workers to make this change over the phone and dispatching technician to make changes at the sites with reported exit . The change had to be completed onsite at the Vote Center and could not be made remotely . We also asked technicians to proactively make these changes at other sites that had not yet reported an issue . By mid - good afternoon , most sites were no longer experiencing the pressman issue , ” write the Elections Department .
The political context
Maricopa County , and Arizona as a whole , were battlegrounds in the midterm . The province faced some deeply divisive race , and became decisive in determine the balance of the Senate .
Even before the day of the general election , there were proceeds at the legal power ’s polling sites . A District Court Judge issueda bound orderagainst poll watchers from one right - fender guard dog group who were showing up to early vote locations armed , and restrain voters . In the days take after the election , Maricopa County Board of Supervisor ’s Chairman wasforced into hidingfollowing base hit concerns and threats .
Though she lose by about 17,000 votes , accord tothe Associated Press , GOP gubernatorial candidate and spectacular 2020 election denier Kari Lakehas still refused to concede .
Sunday ’s theme postdate a seven-day inquiry , goad bya requestfrom the Arizona Attorney General ’s Office . In that asking , assistant attorney superior general Jennifer Wright wonder the legality of the election given a federal requirement for “ uniform ” process , voters alter polling emplacement after checking in , and that vote were moved to the primal counting location . However , Thomas Liddy , a Republican and head of Maricopa County ’s polite division , addressed and refuted the claims of illegal “ non - uniformness , ” and all other alleged violationsin a letteraccompanying the report .
“ Every legitimate voter was still able to cast his or her ballot . No voter was voteless because of the difficulty the County experienced with some of its printers . Every voter was allow a vote by which he or she could record their votes , and all such ballots cast by lawful elector were tabularize , whether in the vote core or at the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center , ” Liddy write . “ The printing issue , lead to precinct - establish tabulators being unable to tabularise some of the votes cast , was regrettable . But it did not offend the uniformity statutes , and any suggestion that it did is unfounded , ” he added .
The report came just a day before the deadline for certifying election issue . Nearly all jurisdictions across the country have now vote to demonstrate their results for the 2022 midterm election , but multiple Arizona counties have n’t , andat least one Republican - controlled countywill delay their decision further .
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