Citizens in Maricopa County, Arizona, know all too well the consequences of poor election management.
During the 2022 midterms, vote on-demand printers at about 30 percentage of Maricopa’s voting centres produced ballots that did not conform with the voting tabulators. The problem led to long lines and an undeniable number of voters unwilling to cast their ballots or had them counted, according to The Federalist’s earlier reporting.
[READ: Poll Worker Gives An Inside Look At” Full Chaos” In Maricopa County On Election Day]
Then, with Election Day fast approaching, concerns are once again growing about the management of the 2024 challenge in Arizona’s most populous state, where approximately 62 percent of the population resides. Election officials in Maricopa County officially warned it might take nearly two weeks before all ballots are tallied and finalized next week. Officers made those remarks a fortnight after they said there might be long lines and delays at election day voting locations due to issues with ballot tabulators.
With so much at stake this vote, Arizona Republicans are leaving nothing to chance. They are making a significant push for GOP voters to cast their ballots first to ensure their voices are heard at the ballot field this November in order to prevent a 2022 follow.
” We’ve done all the litigation we can do ahead of time, and now I have to hope that I can get most of my people to vote early, so that the lines are not that long]and ] nobody’s discouraged” to vote, Arizona GOP Chair Gina Swoboda told The Federalist.
Issues on the Horizon?
Maricopa County’s concerns about possible election day issues are rarely unfounded. As previously stated, county leaders have been raising concerns about potential disenfranchisement for constitutional voters in the media.
Voting tabulators” was jelly in Maricopa County because citizens will have to put two sheets of paper instead of one when casting their votes,” according to Maricopa County Elections Director Scott Jarrett next month, according to the Associated Press. Numerous races and ballot initiatives will be decided by Arizona electors this drop, in addition to the exceedingly long vote.
It will probably take “very long time” for voters to complete the lengthy ballot, Swoboda claimed, which may cause “long lines” at voting locations. She also expressed concern about tabulators syming on Election Day and the potential consequences of doing so unintentionally to suppress good Republican citizens.
” I have this]two-page, doubled-sided ] ballot … and I have long lines just by nature of the fact that there’s a long ballot and people are taking time to fill it out. …]If we start getting ] paper jams, I’m extremely concerned that may look very similar to what happened in 2022 in Maricopa County”, Swoboda said. ” If my citizens come out of it and start]claiming],’ They’re stealing it. It’s scathing. I worry that we will unintentionally control our own citizens because the lines are very much and people start pushing that out on cultural media.
The seat of the Arizona Republican Party noted that paper jams had recently appeared during the state’s 2024 primary elections earlier this year when there were only one-page votes present.
In the chapters of The American Spectator next month, Mark Sonnenklar, a lawyer and member of the Maricopa County downtown committee, described his experiences as a traveling counsel in Maricopa during the July key. A tabulator paper-jam problem at several electoral locations, he warned, was one of the issues he identified as one of the issues that could “wreak havoc during the upcoming common election.”
Sonnenklar told The Federalist he “found a paper-jam issue at two of]his ] 10 vote centers”, and that the” significant problem” resulted in tabulators being” shut down”.
” If this happens ]in the general election], the vote centers are going to be operating on]fewer tabulators], which is a huge problem when you have a two-page ballot”, he said.
In August, Maricopa County settled a lawsuit filed by Swoboda, which, as described by local media, “did never adequately perform assessments of voting calculation products as required by state law”. Additionally, the Republican Party of Arizona claimed that only “backup” tabulator machines under the last two secretaries of state went through logic and accuracy testing. The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors” shall only provide its tabulators and accessible voting devices that it intends to deploy to early voting locations and election day vote centers” for logic and accuracy testing “before an election,” according to the agreement reached between the Arizona Republicans and the county officials in August.
According to local media, all Arizona counties, including Maricopa, passed logic and accuracy machine tests conducted by the secretary of state earlier this month.
Greater GOP Oversight
Arizona Republicans have begun greater oversight of the 2024 election to make sure voters are n’t disenfranchised due to faulty election administration because of the potential for Election Day chaos.
Swoboda told The Federalist that she and GOP attorneys will be gathering calls from poll observers ‘ “record number” for any issues that come up in state polling places on Election Day. The GOP will file a lawsuit right away to prevent polling places from being closed for as long as they can at the” first sign” of paper jams and long lines, she said.
” If it’s 7: 30 in the morning, I’ve got long lines and paper jams … happening, I am going to court, and I’m asking them to keep the polls open late”, Swoboda said. ” If]a court ] wants to do what they did in 2022 and disenfranchise voters by letting us have very long lines and not]keeping the polls ] open]longer], then that’s on the judicial system. But I’m not going to wait”.
A Republican rapid response team, which will be made up of volunteers distributed throughout Maricopa County, was also unveiled by the Arizona Republican Republican chair. These people will be contacted by voters who have reported issues to let them know about issues at the center and assist them in finding a more convenient location to cast their ballots in the future.
” If I hear that a vote center is down or that the lines are very long,” Swoboda said of her rapid response coordinator, who will contact the volunteers who have been assigned to the vote center’s immediate vicinity. These volunteers are “going to stand at the 75-foot line, which is the line we are allowed to electioneer, and notify the voters,’ Hey, the vote center down the street has a shorter line]and does n’t have ] any paper jams,’ … so that we do n’t get people who just walk away ]and do n’t vote ]”.
Swoboda emphasized that these individuals would not be “policing” the lines and that their responsibilities would be solely educational and in accordance with state law.
Shelby Busch, the vice chairman of the Maricopa County GOP, reported to The Federalist that the state’s largest political party will have a “hotline” that will be available” throughout the entire election process.” The hotline is available for election workers, poll observers, and voters” to report issues ]and ] concerns”, and will allow the GOP to assist these individuals with any reported problems.
Busch also noted that the Maricopa County Republican Party has distributed “educational pamphlets with canvassers” and brochures to voters “explaining some of the potential issues that they may face, how to report it, and what to do if they face certain challenges ]on Election Day ]”.
Early Vote Like There’s No Tomorrow
Arizona conservatives are unwavering in their belief that voting early is the best way for voters to avoid any potential Election Day issues in Maricopa and other counties.
Arizona Free Enterprise Club President Scot Mussi told The Federalist that he thinks the number of vote centers provided by Maricopa County officials are “inadequate” in order to meet the demand on Election Day. He also urged voters to return their early ballot by this Friday so that it can be processed and tabulated for Election Day.
” Everybody’s saying the same thing: Get your ballot in]early ]”, Mussi said. We want to prevent people from learning about what transpired in 2022. Because it took hours for them to vote and deal with issues that might arise with the tabulators, we do n’t want to see people leave the line.
Swoboda similarly encouraged electors to “please, please, please vote early”.
The deadline to vote early in-person in Arizona is Friday, Nov. 1. For information on Arizona’s voting procedures and deadlines, check out The Federalist’s 2024 Battleground State Election Guide.
For more election news and updates, visit , electionbriefing.com.
The Federalist staff writer Shawn Fleetwood graduated from the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClear Health, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood
