Arizona’s high-stakes elections were hit with technical issues in Phoenix’s Maricopa County on Tuesday, sparking a Republican lawsuit and a wave of criticism, rumors and misinformation.
County officials announced Tuesday morning that ballot counting machines were malfunctioning in 20% of the 223 vote centers across the county, confirming reports that quickly spread on social media and prompting former President Trump to make unfounded allegations of a stolen election on his Truth Social platform.
County election officials in Arizona — particularly in Maricopa, where top election officials are Republicans — were under great pressure to hold a smooth election. Supporters of Trump held armed protests in Maricopa County in 2020, after Joe Biden narrowly became the first Democrat to win a presidential contest there in more than 20 years.
This year, four of the top statewide candidates have been endorsed by Trump and have echoed his false and unfounded claims that the 2020 election was stolen due to widespread voter fraud.
Gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake has heavily criticized election administration under Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, calling on her Democratic opponent for governor to recuse herself from overseeing their contest.
After casting her ballot at a polling place in downtown Phoenix, Lake said she would overhaul the state’s elections if she wins.
“This is incompetency, I hope it’s not malice,” she told reporters. “We’re going to fix it, we’re going to win. And when we win there’s going to be a come to Jesus for elections.”
Trump released a video message to Arizona voters and made several posts on Truth Social on Tuesday afternoon, alleging that the situation in Maricopa County was a “complete Voter Integrity DISASTER.”
“People of Arizona: Don’t get out of line until you cast your vote,” Trump wrote. “They are trying to steal the election with bad Machines and DELAY. Don’t let it happen!”
The Lake campaign, Republican Senate candidate Blake Masters and the Republican National Committee filed a lawsuit Tuesday afternoon to extend voting hours in Arizona by three hours to 10 p.m. local time to make up for the tabulator issues. Republicans made up the majority of in-person voter turnout Tuesday.
“The widespread issues — in an election administered by Democrat Secretary of State Katie Hobbs — are completely unacceptable, especially as Republicans flock to the polls to vote in-person on Election Day,” RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a written statement. “We have dozens of attorneys and thousands of volunteers on the ground working to solve this issue and ensure that Arizona voters have the chance to make their voices heard.”
A Maricopa County Superior Court judge denied the emergency request around the time polls closed at 7 p.m.
Lake and other Republicans have also been critical of how long it takes to count votes. For decades, Arizona has allowed voters to request absentee ballots, which must be returned by the time polls close on election day. Election officials have said that it could be 10 to 15 days before every ballot is counted, and it could take a few days to determine the winner in a close contest.
Officials said no voters had been disenfranchised. Ballots that could not be scanned were placed in secure bins inside tabulating machines and will be delivered by bipartisan teams to the county’s central elections office, said Bill Gates, chairman of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.
Gates said the printing issue was a surprise and that the county plans to do a “deep dive” into why the issue wasn’t caught during testing.
“No one here in Maricopa County has ever claimed that there is such a thing as a perfect election,” Gates told reporters Tuesday afternoon.
Times staff writer Sarah D. Wire contributed to this report.
Arizona’s high-stakes elections were hit with technical issues in Phoenix’s Maricopa County on Tuesday, sparking a Republican lawsuit and a wave of criticism, rumors and misinformation.
County officials announced Tuesday morning that ballot counting machines were malfunctioning in 20% of the 223 vote centers across the county, confirming reports that quickly spread on social media and prompting former President Trump to make unfounded allegations of a stolen election on his Truth Social platform.
County election officials in Arizona — particularly in Maricopa, where top election officials are Republicans — were under great pressure to hold a smooth election. Supporters of Trump held armed protests in Maricopa County in 2020, after Joe Biden narrowly became the first Democrat to win a presidential contest there in more than 20 years.
This year, four of the top statewide candidates have been endorsed by Trump and have echoed his false and unfounded claims that the 2020 election was stolen due to widespread voter fraud.
Gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake has heavily criticized election administration under Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, calling on her Democratic opponent for governor to recuse herself from overseeing their contest.
After casting her ballot at a polling place in downtown Phoenix, Lake said she would overhaul the state’s elections if she wins.
“This is incompetency, I hope it’s not malice,” she told reporters. “We’re going to fix it, we’re going to win. And when we win there’s going to be a come to Jesus for elections.”
Trump released a video message to Arizona voters and made several posts on Truth Social on Tuesday afternoon, alleging that the situation in Maricopa County was a “complete Voter Integrity DISASTER.”
“People of Arizona: Don’t get out of line until you cast your vote,” Trump wrote. “They are trying to steal the election with bad Machines and DELAY. Don’t let it happen!”
The Lake campaign, Republican Senate candidate Blake Masters and the Republican National Committee filed a lawsuit Tuesday afternoon to extend voting hours in Arizona by three hours to 10 p.m. local time to make up for the tabulator issues. Republicans made up the majority of in-person voter turnout Tuesday.
“The widespread issues — in an election administered by Democrat Secretary of State Katie Hobbs — are completely unacceptable, especially as Republicans flock to the polls to vote in-person on Election Day,” RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a written statement. “We have dozens of attorneys and thousands of volunteers on the ground working to solve this issue and ensure that Arizona voters have the chance to make their voices heard.”
A Maricopa County Superior Court judge denied the emergency request around the time polls closed at 7 p.m.
Lake and other Republicans have also been critical of how long it takes to count votes. For decades, Arizona has allowed voters to request absentee ballots, which must be returned by the time polls close on election day. Election officials have said that it could be 10 to 15 days before every ballot is counted, and it could take a few days to determine the winner in a close contest.
Officials said no voters had been disenfranchised. Ballots that could not be scanned were placed in secure bins inside tabulating machines and will be delivered by bipartisan teams to the county’s central elections office, said Bill Gates, chairman of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.
Gates said the printing issue was a surprise and that the county plans to do a “deep dive” into why the issue wasn’t caught during testing.
“No one here in Maricopa County has ever claimed that there is such a thing as a perfect election,” Gates told reporters Tuesday afternoon.
Times staff writer Sarah D. Wire contributed to this report.
Arizona’s high-stakes elections were hit with technical issues in Phoenix’s Maricopa County on Tuesday, sparking a Republican lawsuit and a wave of criticism, rumors and misinformation.
County officials announced Tuesday morning that ballot counting machines were malfunctioning in 20% of the 223 vote centers across the county, confirming reports that quickly spread on social media and prompting former President Trump to make unfounded allegations of a stolen election on his Truth Social platform.
County election officials in Arizona — particularly in Maricopa, where top election officials are Republicans — were under great pressure to hold a smooth election. Supporters of Trump held armed protests in Maricopa County in 2020, after Joe Biden narrowly became the first Democrat to win a presidential contest there in more than 20 years.
This year, four of the top statewide candidates have been endorsed by Trump and have echoed his false and unfounded claims that the 2020 election was stolen due to widespread voter fraud.
Gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake has heavily criticized election administration under Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, calling on her Democratic opponent for governor to recuse herself from overseeing their contest.
After casting her ballot at a polling place in downtown Phoenix, Lake said she would overhaul the state’s elections if she wins.
“This is incompetency, I hope it’s not malice,” she told reporters. “We’re going to fix it, we’re going to win. And when we win there’s going to be a come to Jesus for elections.”
Trump released a video message to Arizona voters and made several posts on Truth Social on Tuesday afternoon, alleging that the situation in Maricopa County was a “complete Voter Integrity DISASTER.”
“People of Arizona: Don’t get out of line until you cast your vote,” Trump wrote. “They are trying to steal the election with bad Machines and DELAY. Don’t let it happen!”
The Lake campaign, Republican Senate candidate Blake Masters and the Republican National Committee filed a lawsuit Tuesday afternoon to extend voting hours in Arizona by three hours to 10 p.m. local time to make up for the tabulator issues. Republicans made up the majority of in-person voter turnout Tuesday.
“The widespread issues — in an election administered by Democrat Secretary of State Katie Hobbs — are completely unacceptable, especially as Republicans flock to the polls to vote in-person on Election Day,” RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a written statement. “We have dozens of attorneys and thousands of volunteers on the ground working to solve this issue and ensure that Arizona voters have the chance to make their voices heard.”
A Maricopa County Superior Court judge denied the emergency request around the time polls closed at 7 p.m.
Lake and other Republicans have also been critical of how long it takes to count votes. For decades, Arizona has allowed voters to request absentee ballots, which must be returned by the time polls close on election day. Election officials have said that it could be 10 to 15 days before every ballot is counted, and it could take a few days to determine the winner in a close contest.
Officials said no voters had been disenfranchised. Ballots that could not be scanned were placed in secure bins inside tabulating machines and will be delivered by bipartisan teams to the county’s central elections office, said Bill Gates, chairman of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.
Gates said the printing issue was a surprise and that the county plans to do a “deep dive” into why the issue wasn’t caught during testing.
“No one here in Maricopa County has ever claimed that there is such a thing as a perfect election,” Gates told reporters Tuesday afternoon.
Times staff writer Sarah D. Wire contributed to this report.
Arizona’s high-stakes elections were hit with technical issues in Phoenix’s Maricopa County on Tuesday, sparking a Republican lawsuit and a wave of criticism, rumors and misinformation.
County officials announced Tuesday morning that ballot counting machines were malfunctioning in 20% of the 223 vote centers across the county, confirming reports that quickly spread on social media and prompting former President Trump to make unfounded allegations of a stolen election on his Truth Social platform.
County election officials in Arizona — particularly in Maricopa, where top election officials are Republicans — were under great pressure to hold a smooth election. Supporters of Trump held armed protests in Maricopa County in 2020, after Joe Biden narrowly became the first Democrat to win a presidential contest there in more than 20 years.
This year, four of the top statewide candidates have been endorsed by Trump and have echoed his false and unfounded claims that the 2020 election was stolen due to widespread voter fraud.
Gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake has heavily criticized election administration under Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, calling on her Democratic opponent for governor to recuse herself from overseeing their contest.
After casting her ballot at a polling place in downtown Phoenix, Lake said she would overhaul the state’s elections if she wins.
“This is incompetency, I hope it’s not malice,” she told reporters. “We’re going to fix it, we’re going to win. And when we win there’s going to be a come to Jesus for elections.”
Trump released a video message to Arizona voters and made several posts on Truth Social on Tuesday afternoon, alleging that the situation in Maricopa County was a “complete Voter Integrity DISASTER.”
“People of Arizona: Don’t get out of line until you cast your vote,” Trump wrote. “They are trying to steal the election with bad Machines and DELAY. Don’t let it happen!”
The Lake campaign, Republican Senate candidate Blake Masters and the Republican National Committee filed a lawsuit Tuesday afternoon to extend voting hours in Arizona by three hours to 10 p.m. local time to make up for the tabulator issues. Republicans made up the majority of in-person voter turnout Tuesday.
“The widespread issues — in an election administered by Democrat Secretary of State Katie Hobbs — are completely unacceptable, especially as Republicans flock to the polls to vote in-person on Election Day,” RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a written statement. “We have dozens of attorneys and thousands of volunteers on the ground working to solve this issue and ensure that Arizona voters have the chance to make their voices heard.”
A Maricopa County Superior Court judge denied the emergency request around the time polls closed at 7 p.m.
Lake and other Republicans have also been critical of how long it takes to count votes. For decades, Arizona has allowed voters to request absentee ballots, which must be returned by the time polls close on election day. Election officials have said that it could be 10 to 15 days before every ballot is counted, and it could take a few days to determine the winner in a close contest.
Officials said no voters had been disenfranchised. Ballots that could not be scanned were placed in secure bins inside tabulating machines and will be delivered by bipartisan teams to the county’s central elections office, said Bill Gates, chairman of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.
Gates said the printing issue was a surprise and that the county plans to do a “deep dive” into why the issue wasn’t caught during testing.
“No one here in Maricopa County has ever claimed that there is such a thing as a perfect election,” Gates told reporters Tuesday afternoon.
Times staff writer Sarah D. Wire contributed to this report.
Arizona’s high-stakes elections were hit with technical issues in Phoenix’s Maricopa County on Tuesday, sparking a Republican lawsuit and a wave of criticism, rumors and misinformation.
County officials announced Tuesday morning that ballot counting machines were malfunctioning in 20% of the 223 vote centers across the county, confirming reports that quickly spread on social media and prompting former President Trump to make unfounded allegations of a stolen election on his Truth Social platform.
County election officials in Arizona — particularly in Maricopa, where top election officials are Republicans — were under great pressure to hold a smooth election. Supporters of Trump held armed protests in Maricopa County in 2020, after Joe Biden narrowly became the first Democrat to win a presidential contest there in more than 20 years.
This year, four of the top statewide candidates have been endorsed by Trump and have echoed his false and unfounded claims that the 2020 election was stolen due to widespread voter fraud.
Gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake has heavily criticized election administration under Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, calling on her Democratic opponent for governor to recuse herself from overseeing their contest.
After casting her ballot at a polling place in downtown Phoenix, Lake said she would overhaul the state’s elections if she wins.
“This is incompetency, I hope it’s not malice,” she told reporters. “We’re going to fix it, we’re going to win. And when we win there’s going to be a come to Jesus for elections.”
Trump released a video message to Arizona voters and made several posts on Truth Social on Tuesday afternoon, alleging that the situation in Maricopa County was a “complete Voter Integrity DISASTER.”
“People of Arizona: Don’t get out of line until you cast your vote,” Trump wrote. “They are trying to steal the election with bad Machines and DELAY. Don’t let it happen!”
The Lake campaign, Republican Senate candidate Blake Masters and the Republican National Committee filed a lawsuit Tuesday afternoon to extend voting hours in Arizona by three hours to 10 p.m. local time to make up for the tabulator issues. Republicans made up the majority of in-person voter turnout Tuesday.
“The widespread issues — in an election administered by Democrat Secretary of State Katie Hobbs — are completely unacceptable, especially as Republicans flock to the polls to vote in-person on Election Day,” RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a written statement. “We have dozens of attorneys and thousands of volunteers on the ground working to solve this issue and ensure that Arizona voters have the chance to make their voices heard.”
A Maricopa County Superior Court judge denied the emergency request around the time polls closed at 7 p.m.
Lake and other Republicans have also been critical of how long it takes to count votes. For decades, Arizona has allowed voters to request absentee ballots, which must be returned by the time polls close on election day. Election officials have said that it could be 10 to 15 days before every ballot is counted, and it could take a few days to determine the winner in a close contest.
Officials said no voters had been disenfranchised. Ballots that could not be scanned were placed in secure bins inside tabulating machines and will be delivered by bipartisan teams to the county’s central elections office, said Bill Gates, chairman of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.
Gates said the printing issue was a surprise and that the county plans to do a “deep dive” into why the issue wasn’t caught during testing.
“No one here in Maricopa County has ever claimed that there is such a thing as a perfect election,” Gates told reporters Tuesday afternoon.
Times staff writer Sarah D. Wire contributed to this report.
Arizona’s high-stakes elections were hit with technical issues in Phoenix’s Maricopa County on Tuesday, sparking a Republican lawsuit and a wave of criticism, rumors and misinformation.
County officials announced Tuesday morning that ballot counting machines were malfunctioning in 20% of the 223 vote centers across the county, confirming reports that quickly spread on social media and prompting former President Trump to make unfounded allegations of a stolen election on his Truth Social platform.
County election officials in Arizona — particularly in Maricopa, where top election officials are Republicans — were under great pressure to hold a smooth election. Supporters of Trump held armed protests in Maricopa County in 2020, after Joe Biden narrowly became the first Democrat to win a presidential contest there in more than 20 years.
This year, four of the top statewide candidates have been endorsed by Trump and have echoed his false and unfounded claims that the 2020 election was stolen due to widespread voter fraud.
Gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake has heavily criticized election administration under Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, calling on her Democratic opponent for governor to recuse herself from overseeing their contest.
After casting her ballot at a polling place in downtown Phoenix, Lake said she would overhaul the state’s elections if she wins.
“This is incompetency, I hope it’s not malice,” she told reporters. “We’re going to fix it, we’re going to win. And when we win there’s going to be a come to Jesus for elections.”
Trump released a video message to Arizona voters and made several posts on Truth Social on Tuesday afternoon, alleging that the situation in Maricopa County was a “complete Voter Integrity DISASTER.”
“People of Arizona: Don’t get out of line until you cast your vote,” Trump wrote. “They are trying to steal the election with bad Machines and DELAY. Don’t let it happen!”
The Lake campaign, Republican Senate candidate Blake Masters and the Republican National Committee filed a lawsuit Tuesday afternoon to extend voting hours in Arizona by three hours to 10 p.m. local time to make up for the tabulator issues. Republicans made up the majority of in-person voter turnout Tuesday.
“The widespread issues — in an election administered by Democrat Secretary of State Katie Hobbs — are completely unacceptable, especially as Republicans flock to the polls to vote in-person on Election Day,” RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a written statement. “We have dozens of attorneys and thousands of volunteers on the ground working to solve this issue and ensure that Arizona voters have the chance to make their voices heard.”
A Maricopa County Superior Court judge denied the emergency request around the time polls closed at 7 p.m.
Lake and other Republicans have also been critical of how long it takes to count votes. For decades, Arizona has allowed voters to request absentee ballots, which must be returned by the time polls close on election day. Election officials have said that it could be 10 to 15 days before every ballot is counted, and it could take a few days to determine the winner in a close contest.
Officials said no voters had been disenfranchised. Ballots that could not be scanned were placed in secure bins inside tabulating machines and will be delivered by bipartisan teams to the county’s central elections office, said Bill Gates, chairman of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.
Gates said the printing issue was a surprise and that the county plans to do a “deep dive” into why the issue wasn’t caught during testing.
“No one here in Maricopa County has ever claimed that there is such a thing as a perfect election,” Gates told reporters Tuesday afternoon.
Times staff writer Sarah D. Wire contributed to this report.
Arizona’s high-stakes elections were hit with technical issues in Phoenix’s Maricopa County on Tuesday, sparking a Republican lawsuit and a wave of criticism, rumors and misinformation.
County officials announced Tuesday morning that ballot counting machines were malfunctioning in 20% of the 223 vote centers across the county, confirming reports that quickly spread on social media and prompting former President Trump to make unfounded allegations of a stolen election on his Truth Social platform.
County election officials in Arizona — particularly in Maricopa, where top election officials are Republicans — were under great pressure to hold a smooth election. Supporters of Trump held armed protests in Maricopa County in 2020, after Joe Biden narrowly became the first Democrat to win a presidential contest there in more than 20 years.
This year, four of the top statewide candidates have been endorsed by Trump and have echoed his false and unfounded claims that the 2020 election was stolen due to widespread voter fraud.
Gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake has heavily criticized election administration under Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, calling on her Democratic opponent for governor to recuse herself from overseeing their contest.
After casting her ballot at a polling place in downtown Phoenix, Lake said she would overhaul the state’s elections if she wins.
“This is incompetency, I hope it’s not malice,” she told reporters. “We’re going to fix it, we’re going to win. And when we win there’s going to be a come to Jesus for elections.”
Trump released a video message to Arizona voters and made several posts on Truth Social on Tuesday afternoon, alleging that the situation in Maricopa County was a “complete Voter Integrity DISASTER.”
“People of Arizona: Don’t get out of line until you cast your vote,” Trump wrote. “They are trying to steal the election with bad Machines and DELAY. Don’t let it happen!”
The Lake campaign, Republican Senate candidate Blake Masters and the Republican National Committee filed a lawsuit Tuesday afternoon to extend voting hours in Arizona by three hours to 10 p.m. local time to make up for the tabulator issues. Republicans made up the majority of in-person voter turnout Tuesday.
“The widespread issues — in an election administered by Democrat Secretary of State Katie Hobbs — are completely unacceptable, especially as Republicans flock to the polls to vote in-person on Election Day,” RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a written statement. “We have dozens of attorneys and thousands of volunteers on the ground working to solve this issue and ensure that Arizona voters have the chance to make their voices heard.”
A Maricopa County Superior Court judge denied the emergency request around the time polls closed at 7 p.m.
Lake and other Republicans have also been critical of how long it takes to count votes. For decades, Arizona has allowed voters to request absentee ballots, which must be returned by the time polls close on election day. Election officials have said that it could be 10 to 15 days before every ballot is counted, and it could take a few days to determine the winner in a close contest.
Officials said no voters had been disenfranchised. Ballots that could not be scanned were placed in secure bins inside tabulating machines and will be delivered by bipartisan teams to the county’s central elections office, said Bill Gates, chairman of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.
Gates said the printing issue was a surprise and that the county plans to do a “deep dive” into why the issue wasn’t caught during testing.
“No one here in Maricopa County has ever claimed that there is such a thing as a perfect election,” Gates told reporters Tuesday afternoon.
Times staff writer Sarah D. Wire contributed to this report.
Arizona’s high-stakes elections were hit with technical issues in Phoenix’s Maricopa County on Tuesday, sparking a Republican lawsuit and a wave of criticism, rumors and misinformation.
County officials announced Tuesday morning that ballot counting machines were malfunctioning in 20% of the 223 vote centers across the county, confirming reports that quickly spread on social media and prompting former President Trump to make unfounded allegations of a stolen election on his Truth Social platform.
County election officials in Arizona — particularly in Maricopa, where top election officials are Republicans — were under great pressure to hold a smooth election. Supporters of Trump held armed protests in Maricopa County in 2020, after Joe Biden narrowly became the first Democrat to win a presidential contest there in more than 20 years.
This year, four of the top statewide candidates have been endorsed by Trump and have echoed his false and unfounded claims that the 2020 election was stolen due to widespread voter fraud.
Gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake has heavily criticized election administration under Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, calling on her Democratic opponent for governor to recuse herself from overseeing their contest.
After casting her ballot at a polling place in downtown Phoenix, Lake said she would overhaul the state’s elections if she wins.
“This is incompetency, I hope it’s not malice,” she told reporters. “We’re going to fix it, we’re going to win. And when we win there’s going to be a come to Jesus for elections.”
Trump released a video message to Arizona voters and made several posts on Truth Social on Tuesday afternoon, alleging that the situation in Maricopa County was a “complete Voter Integrity DISASTER.”
“People of Arizona: Don’t get out of line until you cast your vote,” Trump wrote. “They are trying to steal the election with bad Machines and DELAY. Don’t let it happen!”
The Lake campaign, Republican Senate candidate Blake Masters and the Republican National Committee filed a lawsuit Tuesday afternoon to extend voting hours in Arizona by three hours to 10 p.m. local time to make up for the tabulator issues. Republicans made up the majority of in-person voter turnout Tuesday.
“The widespread issues — in an election administered by Democrat Secretary of State Katie Hobbs — are completely unacceptable, especially as Republicans flock to the polls to vote in-person on Election Day,” RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a written statement. “We have dozens of attorneys and thousands of volunteers on the ground working to solve this issue and ensure that Arizona voters have the chance to make their voices heard.”
A Maricopa County Superior Court judge denied the emergency request around the time polls closed at 7 p.m.
Lake and other Republicans have also been critical of how long it takes to count votes. For decades, Arizona has allowed voters to request absentee ballots, which must be returned by the time polls close on election day. Election officials have said that it could be 10 to 15 days before every ballot is counted, and it could take a few days to determine the winner in a close contest.
Officials said no voters had been disenfranchised. Ballots that could not be scanned were placed in secure bins inside tabulating machines and will be delivered by bipartisan teams to the county’s central elections office, said Bill Gates, chairman of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.
Gates said the printing issue was a surprise and that the county plans to do a “deep dive” into why the issue wasn’t caught during testing.
“No one here in Maricopa County has ever claimed that there is such a thing as a perfect election,” Gates told reporters Tuesday afternoon.
Times staff writer Sarah D. Wire contributed to this report.
Arizona’s high-stakes elections were hit with technical issues in Phoenix’s Maricopa County on Tuesday, sparking a Republican lawsuit and a wave of criticism, rumors and misinformation.
County officials announced Tuesday morning that ballot counting machines were malfunctioning in 20% of the 223 vote centers across the county, confirming reports that quickly spread on social media and prompting former President Trump to make unfounded allegations of a stolen election on his Truth Social platform.
County election officials in Arizona — particularly in Maricopa, where top election officials are Republicans — were under great pressure to hold a smooth election. Supporters of Trump held armed protests in Maricopa County in 2020, after Joe Biden narrowly became the first Democrat to win a presidential contest there in more than 20 years.
This year, four of the top statewide candidates have been endorsed by Trump and have echoed his false and unfounded claims that the 2020 election was stolen due to widespread voter fraud.
Gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake has heavily criticized election administration under Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, calling on her Democratic opponent for governor to recuse herself from overseeing their contest.
After casting her ballot at a polling place in downtown Phoenix, Lake said she would overhaul the state’s elections if she wins.
“This is incompetency, I hope it’s not malice,” she told reporters. “We’re going to fix it, we’re going to win. And when we win there’s going to be a come to Jesus for elections.”
Trump released a video message to Arizona voters and made several posts on Truth Social on Tuesday afternoon, alleging that the situation in Maricopa County was a “complete Voter Integrity DISASTER.”
“People of Arizona: Don’t get out of line until you cast your vote,” Trump wrote. “They are trying to steal the election with bad Machines and DELAY. Don’t let it happen!”
The Lake campaign, Republican Senate candidate Blake Masters and the Republican National Committee filed a lawsuit Tuesday afternoon to extend voting hours in Arizona by three hours to 10 p.m. local time to make up for the tabulator issues. Republicans made up the majority of in-person voter turnout Tuesday.
“The widespread issues — in an election administered by Democrat Secretary of State Katie Hobbs — are completely unacceptable, especially as Republicans flock to the polls to vote in-person on Election Day,” RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a written statement. “We have dozens of attorneys and thousands of volunteers on the ground working to solve this issue and ensure that Arizona voters have the chance to make their voices heard.”
A Maricopa County Superior Court judge denied the emergency request around the time polls closed at 7 p.m.
Lake and other Republicans have also been critical of how long it takes to count votes. For decades, Arizona has allowed voters to request absentee ballots, which must be returned by the time polls close on election day. Election officials have said that it could be 10 to 15 days before every ballot is counted, and it could take a few days to determine the winner in a close contest.
Officials said no voters had been disenfranchised. Ballots that could not be scanned were placed in secure bins inside tabulating machines and will be delivered by bipartisan teams to the county’s central elections office, said Bill Gates, chairman of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.
Gates said the printing issue was a surprise and that the county plans to do a “deep dive” into why the issue wasn’t caught during testing.
“No one here in Maricopa County has ever claimed that there is such a thing as a perfect election,” Gates told reporters Tuesday afternoon.
Times staff writer Sarah D. Wire contributed to this report.
Arizona’s high-stakes elections were hit with technical issues in Phoenix’s Maricopa County on Tuesday, sparking a Republican lawsuit and a wave of criticism, rumors and misinformation.
County officials announced Tuesday morning that ballot counting machines were malfunctioning in 20% of the 223 vote centers across the county, confirming reports that quickly spread on social media and prompting former President Trump to make unfounded allegations of a stolen election on his Truth Social platform.
County election officials in Arizona — particularly in Maricopa, where top election officials are Republicans — were under great pressure to hold a smooth election. Supporters of Trump held armed protests in Maricopa County in 2020, after Joe Biden narrowly became the first Democrat to win a presidential contest there in more than 20 years.
This year, four of the top statewide candidates have been endorsed by Trump and have echoed his false and unfounded claims that the 2020 election was stolen due to widespread voter fraud.
Gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake has heavily criticized election administration under Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, calling on her Democratic opponent for governor to recuse herself from overseeing their contest.
After casting her ballot at a polling place in downtown Phoenix, Lake said she would overhaul the state’s elections if she wins.
“This is incompetency, I hope it’s not malice,” she told reporters. “We’re going to fix it, we’re going to win. And when we win there’s going to be a come to Jesus for elections.”
Trump released a video message to Arizona voters and made several posts on Truth Social on Tuesday afternoon, alleging that the situation in Maricopa County was a “complete Voter Integrity DISASTER.”
“People of Arizona: Don’t get out of line until you cast your vote,” Trump wrote. “They are trying to steal the election with bad Machines and DELAY. Don’t let it happen!”
The Lake campaign, Republican Senate candidate Blake Masters and the Republican National Committee filed a lawsuit Tuesday afternoon to extend voting hours in Arizona by three hours to 10 p.m. local time to make up for the tabulator issues. Republicans made up the majority of in-person voter turnout Tuesday.
“The widespread issues — in an election administered by Democrat Secretary of State Katie Hobbs — are completely unacceptable, especially as Republicans flock to the polls to vote in-person on Election Day,” RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a written statement. “We have dozens of attorneys and thousands of volunteers on the ground working to solve this issue and ensure that Arizona voters have the chance to make their voices heard.”
A Maricopa County Superior Court judge denied the emergency request around the time polls closed at 7 p.m.
Lake and other Republicans have also been critical of how long it takes to count votes. For decades, Arizona has allowed voters to request absentee ballots, which must be returned by the time polls close on election day. Election officials have said that it could be 10 to 15 days before every ballot is counted, and it could take a few days to determine the winner in a close contest.
Officials said no voters had been disenfranchised. Ballots that could not be scanned were placed in secure bins inside tabulating machines and will be delivered by bipartisan teams to the county’s central elections office, said Bill Gates, chairman of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.
Gates said the printing issue was a surprise and that the county plans to do a “deep dive” into why the issue wasn’t caught during testing.
“No one here in Maricopa County has ever claimed that there is such a thing as a perfect election,” Gates told reporters Tuesday afternoon.
Times staff writer Sarah D. Wire contributed to this report.
Arizona’s high-stakes elections were hit with technical issues in Phoenix’s Maricopa County on Tuesday, sparking a Republican lawsuit and a wave of criticism, rumors and misinformation.
County officials announced Tuesday morning that ballot counting machines were malfunctioning in 20% of the 223 vote centers across the county, confirming reports that quickly spread on social media and prompting former President Trump to make unfounded allegations of a stolen election on his Truth Social platform.
County election officials in Arizona — particularly in Maricopa, where top election officials are Republicans — were under great pressure to hold a smooth election. Supporters of Trump held armed protests in Maricopa County in 2020, after Joe Biden narrowly became the first Democrat to win a presidential contest there in more than 20 years.
This year, four of the top statewide candidates have been endorsed by Trump and have echoed his false and unfounded claims that the 2020 election was stolen due to widespread voter fraud.
Gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake has heavily criticized election administration under Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, calling on her Democratic opponent for governor to recuse herself from overseeing their contest.
After casting her ballot at a polling place in downtown Phoenix, Lake said she would overhaul the state’s elections if she wins.
“This is incompetency, I hope it’s not malice,” she told reporters. “We’re going to fix it, we’re going to win. And when we win there’s going to be a come to Jesus for elections.”
Trump released a video message to Arizona voters and made several posts on Truth Social on Tuesday afternoon, alleging that the situation in Maricopa County was a “complete Voter Integrity DISASTER.”
“People of Arizona: Don’t get out of line until you cast your vote,” Trump wrote. “They are trying to steal the election with bad Machines and DELAY. Don’t let it happen!”
The Lake campaign, Republican Senate candidate Blake Masters and the Republican National Committee filed a lawsuit Tuesday afternoon to extend voting hours in Arizona by three hours to 10 p.m. local time to make up for the tabulator issues. Republicans made up the majority of in-person voter turnout Tuesday.
“The widespread issues — in an election administered by Democrat Secretary of State Katie Hobbs — are completely unacceptable, especially as Republicans flock to the polls to vote in-person on Election Day,” RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a written statement. “We have dozens of attorneys and thousands of volunteers on the ground working to solve this issue and ensure that Arizona voters have the chance to make their voices heard.”
A Maricopa County Superior Court judge denied the emergency request around the time polls closed at 7 p.m.
Lake and other Republicans have also been critical of how long it takes to count votes. For decades, Arizona has allowed voters to request absentee ballots, which must be returned by the time polls close on election day. Election officials have said that it could be 10 to 15 days before every ballot is counted, and it could take a few days to determine the winner in a close contest.
Officials said no voters had been disenfranchised. Ballots that could not be scanned were placed in secure bins inside tabulating machines and will be delivered by bipartisan teams to the county’s central elections office, said Bill Gates, chairman of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.
Gates said the printing issue was a surprise and that the county plans to do a “deep dive” into why the issue wasn’t caught during testing.
“No one here in Maricopa County has ever claimed that there is such a thing as a perfect election,” Gates told reporters Tuesday afternoon.
Times staff writer Sarah D. Wire contributed to this report.
Arizona’s high-stakes elections were hit with technical issues in Phoenix’s Maricopa County on Tuesday, sparking a Republican lawsuit and a wave of criticism, rumors and misinformation.
County officials announced Tuesday morning that ballot counting machines were malfunctioning in 20% of the 223 vote centers across the county, confirming reports that quickly spread on social media and prompting former President Trump to make unfounded allegations of a stolen election on his Truth Social platform.
County election officials in Arizona — particularly in Maricopa, where top election officials are Republicans — were under great pressure to hold a smooth election. Supporters of Trump held armed protests in Maricopa County in 2020, after Joe Biden narrowly became the first Democrat to win a presidential contest there in more than 20 years.
This year, four of the top statewide candidates have been endorsed by Trump and have echoed his false and unfounded claims that the 2020 election was stolen due to widespread voter fraud.
Gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake has heavily criticized election administration under Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, calling on her Democratic opponent for governor to recuse herself from overseeing their contest.
After casting her ballot at a polling place in downtown Phoenix, Lake said she would overhaul the state’s elections if she wins.
“This is incompetency, I hope it’s not malice,” she told reporters. “We’re going to fix it, we’re going to win. And when we win there’s going to be a come to Jesus for elections.”
Trump released a video message to Arizona voters and made several posts on Truth Social on Tuesday afternoon, alleging that the situation in Maricopa County was a “complete Voter Integrity DISASTER.”
“People of Arizona: Don’t get out of line until you cast your vote,” Trump wrote. “They are trying to steal the election with bad Machines and DELAY. Don’t let it happen!”
The Lake campaign, Republican Senate candidate Blake Masters and the Republican National Committee filed a lawsuit Tuesday afternoon to extend voting hours in Arizona by three hours to 10 p.m. local time to make up for the tabulator issues. Republicans made up the majority of in-person voter turnout Tuesday.
“The widespread issues — in an election administered by Democrat Secretary of State Katie Hobbs — are completely unacceptable, especially as Republicans flock to the polls to vote in-person on Election Day,” RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a written statement. “We have dozens of attorneys and thousands of volunteers on the ground working to solve this issue and ensure that Arizona voters have the chance to make their voices heard.”
A Maricopa County Superior Court judge denied the emergency request around the time polls closed at 7 p.m.
Lake and other Republicans have also been critical of how long it takes to count votes. For decades, Arizona has allowed voters to request absentee ballots, which must be returned by the time polls close on election day. Election officials have said that it could be 10 to 15 days before every ballot is counted, and it could take a few days to determine the winner in a close contest.
Officials said no voters had been disenfranchised. Ballots that could not be scanned were placed in secure bins inside tabulating machines and will be delivered by bipartisan teams to the county’s central elections office, said Bill Gates, chairman of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.
Gates said the printing issue was a surprise and that the county plans to do a “deep dive” into why the issue wasn’t caught during testing.
“No one here in Maricopa County has ever claimed that there is such a thing as a perfect election,” Gates told reporters Tuesday afternoon.
Times staff writer Sarah D. Wire contributed to this report.
Arizona’s high-stakes elections were hit with technical issues in Phoenix’s Maricopa County on Tuesday, sparking a Republican lawsuit and a wave of criticism, rumors and misinformation.
County officials announced Tuesday morning that ballot counting machines were malfunctioning in 20% of the 223 vote centers across the county, confirming reports that quickly spread on social media and prompting former President Trump to make unfounded allegations of a stolen election on his Truth Social platform.
County election officials in Arizona — particularly in Maricopa, where top election officials are Republicans — were under great pressure to hold a smooth election. Supporters of Trump held armed protests in Maricopa County in 2020, after Joe Biden narrowly became the first Democrat to win a presidential contest there in more than 20 years.
This year, four of the top statewide candidates have been endorsed by Trump and have echoed his false and unfounded claims that the 2020 election was stolen due to widespread voter fraud.
Gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake has heavily criticized election administration under Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, calling on her Democratic opponent for governor to recuse herself from overseeing their contest.
After casting her ballot at a polling place in downtown Phoenix, Lake said she would overhaul the state’s elections if she wins.
“This is incompetency, I hope it’s not malice,” she told reporters. “We’re going to fix it, we’re going to win. And when we win there’s going to be a come to Jesus for elections.”
Trump released a video message to Arizona voters and made several posts on Truth Social on Tuesday afternoon, alleging that the situation in Maricopa County was a “complete Voter Integrity DISASTER.”
“People of Arizona: Don’t get out of line until you cast your vote,” Trump wrote. “They are trying to steal the election with bad Machines and DELAY. Don’t let it happen!”
The Lake campaign, Republican Senate candidate Blake Masters and the Republican National Committee filed a lawsuit Tuesday afternoon to extend voting hours in Arizona by three hours to 10 p.m. local time to make up for the tabulator issues. Republicans made up the majority of in-person voter turnout Tuesday.
“The widespread issues — in an election administered by Democrat Secretary of State Katie Hobbs — are completely unacceptable, especially as Republicans flock to the polls to vote in-person on Election Day,” RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a written statement. “We have dozens of attorneys and thousands of volunteers on the ground working to solve this issue and ensure that Arizona voters have the chance to make their voices heard.”
A Maricopa County Superior Court judge denied the emergency request around the time polls closed at 7 p.m.
Lake and other Republicans have also been critical of how long it takes to count votes. For decades, Arizona has allowed voters to request absentee ballots, which must be returned by the time polls close on election day. Election officials have said that it could be 10 to 15 days before every ballot is counted, and it could take a few days to determine the winner in a close contest.
Officials said no voters had been disenfranchised. Ballots that could not be scanned were placed in secure bins inside tabulating machines and will be delivered by bipartisan teams to the county’s central elections office, said Bill Gates, chairman of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.
Gates said the printing issue was a surprise and that the county plans to do a “deep dive” into why the issue wasn’t caught during testing.
“No one here in Maricopa County has ever claimed that there is such a thing as a perfect election,” Gates told reporters Tuesday afternoon.
Times staff writer Sarah D. Wire contributed to this report.
Arizona’s high-stakes elections were hit with technical issues in Phoenix’s Maricopa County on Tuesday, sparking a Republican lawsuit and a wave of criticism, rumors and misinformation.
County officials announced Tuesday morning that ballot counting machines were malfunctioning in 20% of the 223 vote centers across the county, confirming reports that quickly spread on social media and prompting former President Trump to make unfounded allegations of a stolen election on his Truth Social platform.
County election officials in Arizona — particularly in Maricopa, where top election officials are Republicans — were under great pressure to hold a smooth election. Supporters of Trump held armed protests in Maricopa County in 2020, after Joe Biden narrowly became the first Democrat to win a presidential contest there in more than 20 years.
This year, four of the top statewide candidates have been endorsed by Trump and have echoed his false and unfounded claims that the 2020 election was stolen due to widespread voter fraud.
Gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake has heavily criticized election administration under Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, calling on her Democratic opponent for governor to recuse herself from overseeing their contest.
After casting her ballot at a polling place in downtown Phoenix, Lake said she would overhaul the state’s elections if she wins.
“This is incompetency, I hope it’s not malice,” she told reporters. “We’re going to fix it, we’re going to win. And when we win there’s going to be a come to Jesus for elections.”
Trump released a video message to Arizona voters and made several posts on Truth Social on Tuesday afternoon, alleging that the situation in Maricopa County was a “complete Voter Integrity DISASTER.”
“People of Arizona: Don’t get out of line until you cast your vote,” Trump wrote. “They are trying to steal the election with bad Machines and DELAY. Don’t let it happen!”
The Lake campaign, Republican Senate candidate Blake Masters and the Republican National Committee filed a lawsuit Tuesday afternoon to extend voting hours in Arizona by three hours to 10 p.m. local time to make up for the tabulator issues. Republicans made up the majority of in-person voter turnout Tuesday.
“The widespread issues — in an election administered by Democrat Secretary of State Katie Hobbs — are completely unacceptable, especially as Republicans flock to the polls to vote in-person on Election Day,” RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a written statement. “We have dozens of attorneys and thousands of volunteers on the ground working to solve this issue and ensure that Arizona voters have the chance to make their voices heard.”
A Maricopa County Superior Court judge denied the emergency request around the time polls closed at 7 p.m.
Lake and other Republicans have also been critical of how long it takes to count votes. For decades, Arizona has allowed voters to request absentee ballots, which must be returned by the time polls close on election day. Election officials have said that it could be 10 to 15 days before every ballot is counted, and it could take a few days to determine the winner in a close contest.
Officials said no voters had been disenfranchised. Ballots that could not be scanned were placed in secure bins inside tabulating machines and will be delivered by bipartisan teams to the county’s central elections office, said Bill Gates, chairman of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.
Gates said the printing issue was a surprise and that the county plans to do a “deep dive” into why the issue wasn’t caught during testing.
“No one here in Maricopa County has ever claimed that there is such a thing as a perfect election,” Gates told reporters Tuesday afternoon.
Times staff writer Sarah D. Wire contributed to this report.
Arizona’s high-stakes elections were hit with technical issues in Phoenix’s Maricopa County on Tuesday, sparking a Republican lawsuit and a wave of criticism, rumors and misinformation.
County officials announced Tuesday morning that ballot counting machines were malfunctioning in 20% of the 223 vote centers across the county, confirming reports that quickly spread on social media and prompting former President Trump to make unfounded allegations of a stolen election on his Truth Social platform.
County election officials in Arizona — particularly in Maricopa, where top election officials are Republicans — were under great pressure to hold a smooth election. Supporters of Trump held armed protests in Maricopa County in 2020, after Joe Biden narrowly became the first Democrat to win a presidential contest there in more than 20 years.
This year, four of the top statewide candidates have been endorsed by Trump and have echoed his false and unfounded claims that the 2020 election was stolen due to widespread voter fraud.
Gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake has heavily criticized election administration under Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, calling on her Democratic opponent for governor to recuse herself from overseeing their contest.
After casting her ballot at a polling place in downtown Phoenix, Lake said she would overhaul the state’s elections if she wins.
“This is incompetency, I hope it’s not malice,” she told reporters. “We’re going to fix it, we’re going to win. And when we win there’s going to be a come to Jesus for elections.”
Trump released a video message to Arizona voters and made several posts on Truth Social on Tuesday afternoon, alleging that the situation in Maricopa County was a “complete Voter Integrity DISASTER.”
“People of Arizona: Don’t get out of line until you cast your vote,” Trump wrote. “They are trying to steal the election with bad Machines and DELAY. Don’t let it happen!”
The Lake campaign, Republican Senate candidate Blake Masters and the Republican National Committee filed a lawsuit Tuesday afternoon to extend voting hours in Arizona by three hours to 10 p.m. local time to make up for the tabulator issues. Republicans made up the majority of in-person voter turnout Tuesday.
“The widespread issues — in an election administered by Democrat Secretary of State Katie Hobbs — are completely unacceptable, especially as Republicans flock to the polls to vote in-person on Election Day,” RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a written statement. “We have dozens of attorneys and thousands of volunteers on the ground working to solve this issue and ensure that Arizona voters have the chance to make their voices heard.”
A Maricopa County Superior Court judge denied the emergency request around the time polls closed at 7 p.m.
Lake and other Republicans have also been critical of how long it takes to count votes. For decades, Arizona has allowed voters to request absentee ballots, which must be returned by the time polls close on election day. Election officials have said that it could be 10 to 15 days before every ballot is counted, and it could take a few days to determine the winner in a close contest.
Officials said no voters had been disenfranchised. Ballots that could not be scanned were placed in secure bins inside tabulating machines and will be delivered by bipartisan teams to the county’s central elections office, said Bill Gates, chairman of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.
Gates said the printing issue was a surprise and that the county plans to do a “deep dive” into why the issue wasn’t caught during testing.
“No one here in Maricopa County has ever claimed that there is such a thing as a perfect election,” Gates told reporters Tuesday afternoon.
Times staff writer Sarah D. Wire contributed to this report.
Arizona’s high-stakes elections were hit with technical issues in Phoenix’s Maricopa County on Tuesday, sparking a Republican lawsuit and a wave of criticism, rumors and misinformation.
County officials announced Tuesday morning that ballot counting machines were malfunctioning in 20% of the 223 vote centers across the county, confirming reports that quickly spread on social media and prompting former President Trump to make unfounded allegations of a stolen election on his Truth Social platform.
County election officials in Arizona — particularly in Maricopa, where top election officials are Republicans — were under great pressure to hold a smooth election. Supporters of Trump held armed protests in Maricopa County in 2020, after Joe Biden narrowly became the first Democrat to win a presidential contest there in more than 20 years.
This year, four of the top statewide candidates have been endorsed by Trump and have echoed his false and unfounded claims that the 2020 election was stolen due to widespread voter fraud.
Gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake has heavily criticized election administration under Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, calling on her Democratic opponent for governor to recuse herself from overseeing their contest.
After casting her ballot at a polling place in downtown Phoenix, Lake said she would overhaul the state’s elections if she wins.
“This is incompetency, I hope it’s not malice,” she told reporters. “We’re going to fix it, we’re going to win. And when we win there’s going to be a come to Jesus for elections.”
Trump released a video message to Arizona voters and made several posts on Truth Social on Tuesday afternoon, alleging that the situation in Maricopa County was a “complete Voter Integrity DISASTER.”
“People of Arizona: Don’t get out of line until you cast your vote,” Trump wrote. “They are trying to steal the election with bad Machines and DELAY. Don’t let it happen!”
The Lake campaign, Republican Senate candidate Blake Masters and the Republican National Committee filed a lawsuit Tuesday afternoon to extend voting hours in Arizona by three hours to 10 p.m. local time to make up for the tabulator issues. Republicans made up the majority of in-person voter turnout Tuesday.
“The widespread issues — in an election administered by Democrat Secretary of State Katie Hobbs — are completely unacceptable, especially as Republicans flock to the polls to vote in-person on Election Day,” RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a written statement. “We have dozens of attorneys and thousands of volunteers on the ground working to solve this issue and ensure that Arizona voters have the chance to make their voices heard.”
A Maricopa County Superior Court judge denied the emergency request around the time polls closed at 7 p.m.
Lake and other Republicans have also been critical of how long it takes to count votes. For decades, Arizona has allowed voters to request absentee ballots, which must be returned by the time polls close on election day. Election officials have said that it could be 10 to 15 days before every ballot is counted, and it could take a few days to determine the winner in a close contest.
Officials said no voters had been disenfranchised. Ballots that could not be scanned were placed in secure bins inside tabulating machines and will be delivered by bipartisan teams to the county’s central elections office, said Bill Gates, chairman of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.
Gates said the printing issue was a surprise and that the county plans to do a “deep dive” into why the issue wasn’t caught during testing.
“No one here in Maricopa County has ever claimed that there is such a thing as a perfect election,” Gates told reporters Tuesday afternoon.
Times staff writer Sarah D. Wire contributed to this report.
