Maricopa County, Arizona, found itself at the center of controversy on Election Day.
Residents were being turned away from voting locations, while others had to wait in incredibly long lines, with wait times reportedly reaching several hours in some cases. The Western Journal received over 20 exclusive videos featuring Arizona voters explaining the many difficulties they encountered while trying to vote.
This was because, according to election officials, 20 percent of voting locations across the entire county had malfunctioning vote tabulators.
According to multiple sources, those officials undersold the extent of the problem. In subsequent reporting, both The Washington Post and KNTX-TV were told that 70 locations, over 30 percent, suffered issues with tabulators.
Rasmussen Reports later said even that reporting was an underestimate, claiming the actual number of voting locations with faulty machines on Election Day was 48 percent.
Update: New – 48% of Maricopa election centers had printer or tabulator malfunctions on election day, not the previously estimated 20%. And no such widespread issues were reported during the early voting period that preceded election day and used the very same equipment. Wow. https://t.co/EEzH2LbcZs
— Rasmussen Reports (@Rasmussen_Poll) November 17, 2022
Currently the line at Deer Valley Airport to wait for the TABULATORS. Poll workers encouraging people to use the drop boxes. NOBODY IS LEAVING. Wait times are close to 2 hours to scan your ballot. #RedTsunami2022 @KariLake @AbrahamHamadeh @RealMarkFinchem @christianllamar pic.twitter.com/UwM0LN47az
— James Blanchard (@_chinfullofwin) November 9, 2022
On the same day, one of those election officials, Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Gates, disappeared.
We now know why.
According to a Tuesday report from CNN, Gates was moved to an “undisclosed location” after threats were made against his well-being.
Under the local sheriff’s office’s protection, Gates spent the night of Nov. 8 at the location as Maricopa County continued to find itself ensconced in controversy over its voting issues.
A spokesperson told CNN that Gates has received an increase in personal security as he continues to perform his duties as chairman.
As of Tuesday, two weeks since Election Day, Arizona had yet to complete the counting of votes. According to Politico, 99 percent of the vote was in.
While states like Arizona, Nevada and California were still counting votes days after the election, others, like Florida, counted all of their votes on election night, WFTX-TV reported.
But long counting times are far from the only controversy plaguing Arizona’s handling of the 2022 midterms.
Many believe that the long lines caused by malfunctioning machines disproportionately discouraged same-day voters, who were expected to lean heavily Republican.
The Western Journal’s Randy DeSoto estimated that, if 250 people were dissuaded from voting at each of the 70 polling stations with malfunctioning equipment, that would have been enough to make up the difference between Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake and her Democratic opponent Katie Hobbs.
According to Politico, Katie Hobbs currently has roughly 17,000 more votes than Lake, with 99 percent of all precincts reporting.
Lake’s team announced via Twitter Wednesday that her campaign would be contesting the results.
Imagine if the tabulators had worked in primarily red districts!
Again, this election was irreparably compromised by voter disenfranchisement.
We don’t care if this is unprecedented.
The appropriate thing to do would be to let Maricopa County cast their votes again. https://t.co/ckUht5N8h5
— Kari Lake War Room (@KariLakeWarRoom) November 16, 2022
“Imagine if the tabulators had worked in primarily red districts! Again, this election was irreparably compromised by voter disenfranchisement, ” the campaign’s tweet read.
“We don’t care if this is unprecedented. The appropriate thing to do would be to let Maricopa County cast their votes again.”
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.