Some members of the Republican Party have complained about possible electoral fraud in Maricopa County, in the U.S. state of Arizona, after 20 percent of the polling stations registered technical failures in the tabulation of ballots.
By mid-afternoon (local time) a «solution to the tabulation problems at about 60 polling places» had been identified, the failure of which did not allow scanning to take place, NPR reported.
According to the chairman of the Maricopa Board of Supervisors, Republican Bill Gates, the votes that could not be tabulated have been stored in a «secure box» just below the tabulator for later content on another machine that does work.
However, the failure was enough for some members of the Republican Party to point out the danger of voter fraud.
Arizona Republican Senate candidate Blake Masters, who made a campaign ad saying Trump won in 2020, has tweeted that the problem was «incompetence or worse,» Bloomberg has reported.
Mark Finchem, a candidate for Secretary of State, has blamed Democrat Katie Hobbs, who is running for governor, for the problem, calling on Republican voters to «not let them take your vote away.»
State Republican Party Chairwoman Kelli Ward has asserted that the ruling is not «just incompetence,» but «misconduct.»
The Democratic Party has already responded to these complaints of fraud, accusing the Republicans of wanting to instill fear among the population.
«The sole purpose of misinformation is to cause fear and distrust in our electoral processes,» has replied the deputy secretary of State of Arizona, Allie Bones, in a message on Twitter. «I remain confident that our elections are secure,» she added.
THE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE ASKS TO EXTEND VOTING The Republican National Committee has filed an emergency request to extend voting hours just before the state polls closed at 21.00 local time (3.00 Spanish peninsular time), claiming that the technical failure had prevented crowds of people from turning out to vote.
However, Judge Timothy Ryan, who was appointed by Democratic Governor Janet Napolitano in 2005, has rejected the request arguing that Republicans have failed to prove that any person has been left without exercising their right to vote, NBC reported.
The judge further noted that even if there had been such evidence, he would have «no way of communicating» with the polling places given the late hour for filing the emergency request, with the polls about to close.
According to an election expert asked by the aforementioned network, malfunctioning electronic equipment in U.S. elections has always «been part of Election Day.»
Maricopa, the fourth largest county in the country and home to Phoenix and Tempe, is widely considered the key to Arizona’s elections. Most of the state’s ballots are cast there and the results generally match those statewide.
