Election officials in Arizona’s beleaguered Maricopa County reported problems tabulating the votes cast at some of its polling locations on Tuesday morning.
Bill Gates, Maricopa County Supervisor and chair of the elections board, alongside Stephen Richer, the county’s recorder, published a video on Twitter explaining the issue they were experiencing on Election Day.
In the nearly two-minute video, Gates demonstrates the issue and provides voters with alternatives.
The issue — which Gates said has affected roughly 20 percent of polling locations — was the tabulator wasn’t immediately taking the ballot. He explained that if voters experience that at a polling location, they shouldn’t be alarmed and place their ballot in a secure compartment attached to the tabulator, which would be taken to the central count to be tabulated later.
Gates added that if voters saw long lines at a polling location or the tabulator wasn’t working at a polling location, registered voters could go to any other vote center among the county’s 223.
Maricopa County has been central to many debates about election result accuracy, being a key county in a battleground state.
Suspicions about the county’s election count accuracy surfaced in 2020 when then-President called into question the results after he was defeated by Biden in the county.
Fox News had infamously called the county early and incorrectly. Days later, election analysts would officially call the results, handing Biden the win.
Later, as the debate about election integrity heightened, Trump and election investigators focused on Maricopa County to review the election process and make voting more secure in the county, state, and country.
