Authorities in Maricopa County, Arizona, confirmed Tuesday morning at a news conference that around 20 percent of the vote centers in the county are experiencing issues.
“In about 20 percent of the vote centers … when people will go and try to run the ballot through this tabulator, maybe one out of every five or so, of those ballots are not going through,” said Maricopa Board of Supervisors Chair Bill Gates. “It’s not like both of the tabulators in these 20 percent of locations are having these issues. It might only be one.”
Gates said that the problem is not preventing people from casting their ballot, saying that voters can deposit their ballot in a drop box.
“Those ballots will remain secure in there all day long and at the end of voting after 7 p.m., when everything is completed, these ballots will be taken out securely and delivered by a bipartisan team … down to here at the central tabulation center,” Gates said.
“Everyone is still being able to vote,” Gates said. “No one is being disenfranchised … and none of this indicates any fraud.”
Earlier in the morning, Arizona GOP Chairwoman Kelli Ward wrote there were “BIG problems with” vote tabulators, explaining there were “tabulator ‘malfunctions’ at at least 6 places. DO NOT PUT YOUR BALLOT IN ‘BOX 3′ TO BE “TABULATED DOWNTOWN.’ Maricopa will not be turning on the downtown tabulators today.”
Elections officials in Maricopa County, which was the subject of an Arizona Legislature-backed audit in mid-2021 over the 2020 election results.
“If you’re at a polling place experiencing an issue with a tabulator, you have three options & your vote will be counted in each. 1) stay where you are and wait for tabulator to come online 2) drop your ballot in the secure slot (door 3) on tabulator 3) go to a nearby vote center,” wrote Gates on Tuesday.
There are issues with the precinct-based tabulators that the paper ballots are fed into. We are aware of the issue and are working to get technicians on site as soon as possible.
— Maricopa County Recorder’s Office (@RecordersOffice) November 8, 2022
