In Maricopa County, Arizona, tabulators stopped working on Election Day. This is concerning to many Americans, both in and out of the state. It has now been pointed out that Maricopa County had more than enough time to ensure all of its machines were fully functional before the day of the election.
It also does not help matters that Arizona Democrat Katie Hobbs is the secretary of state. This means she just so happens to be in charge of running Arizona’s elections, while also being a candidate in the election to become the state’s next governor.
However, as more information comes out about Maricopa County, it turns out the community left the door to uncertain results wide open.
The Mismanagement of Ballots
For reasons that remain unknown, Maricopa County’s process of handing ballots involves retrieving them from USPS, yet failing to immediately take these ballots to tabulation centers or the election department.
Instead, Maricopa County has these ballots go to Runbeck, a print vendor, due to its scanners that are supposedly “high speed” and can process tens of thousands of ballots within the hour.
The problem with this, however, is that Maricopa’s work with Runbeck means that it is refusing more effective and secure methods of managing ballots. If Maricopa County instead bought Vantage machines, they would be able to process almost 100,000 ballots within the hour.
So, Katie Hobb’s is Arizona’s Secretary of State, who is overseeing all the voting machine issues taking place in Maricopa County, while running for governor against Kari Lake.
Do I have this, right?
— Kambree (@KamVTV) November 9, 2022
Instead, the community is dead set on sticking with Runbeck. In doing so, Maricopa has no real notion of how many mail-in ballots belong to the county. This is because mail-in ballots sit at Runbeck headquarters for days on end.
Across the country, other communities have opted to purchase Vantage machines to count and process ballots more effectively
Restoring Election Security in Arizona
Because of Maricopa County’s haphazard management of ballots, the outcome of Arizona’s Senate and governor’s races remain up in the air days after Election Day. No one really knows what all is happening behind the scenes.
.@KariLake: "We're very confident that these counts are going to start going heavily our way and we will win this. I assure the people of Arizona we will fix our elections." pic.twitter.com/rTBqSlX5Cd
— Kari Lake (@KariLake) November 12, 2022
Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake has confirmed that if she wins her election, she will ensure the state fixes its handling of ballots. Like many other Republicans, Lake is frustrated with the major delays and warns that at least some of the hold-ups could be intentional.
At the rate things are going, Americans will not know who won Arizona’s Senate and governor’s races until well into next week.
