Beleaguered Election Officials Experience Problems, Frustrations, Rumors, And Praise

August 3, 2022 Terri Jo Neff
ballot

“I don’t know how tonight will turn out. But I do know there appears to be a coordinated effort on the part of – well, everybody knows who’s doing this – to amplify every rumor & allegation – founded or unfounded – to cast doubt on this election. It’s shameful and wrong.”

Those words were spoken Tuesday by Matthew Benson, political strategist for Republican gubernatorial candidate Karrin Taylor Robson. He was referring to innuendos made over the last few weeks by challenger Kari Lake of purported election irregularities in Arizona’s 2022 Primary Election.

Taylor Robson made similarly dismissive comments about Lake’s unsubstantiated claims of election fraud while addressing campaign supporters Tuesday’s night while holding a steady 6 point lead.

“There have been vague accusations of fraud, even before the first vote was counted. But don’t let her get you down. Talk is cheap,” Taylor Robson said.

Dealing with vague accusations of misconduct is something Arizona’s elections officials have also had to address during the current election cycle. And it occurred through Pinal County on Tuesday as some voters were quick to suggest misfeasance when the county admitted it ran out of preprinted ballots at several of its 90 precincts.

Some Arizona counties like Pinal County still utilize the precinct voting method typically do not see 100 percent voter turnout in primary elections, or even 50 percent. But not only did Pinal County have high turnout in certain precincts, some of those precincts did not even receive an adequate number of ballots for the expected amount of turnout.

Pinal County officials even allowed voters to use their “express vote” accessibility devices which are designed for use by voters with mobility or disability issues. Elections officials also continuously stressed throughout the day that if voters were in line when the polls closed at 7 p.m. they would still be given an opportunity to vote as soon as the ballots were delivered to the affected precincts.

It is unclear whether the daylong problem resulted in a handful, a dozen, or hundreds of county voters being unable to cast their ballot as planned. Arizona Daily Independent has confirmed that the Arizona Attorney General’s Office and the Pinal County Attorney’s Office were contacted by voters upset over the situation.

Meanwhile, Pinal County elections officials probably would have been happy to change places with Maricopa County’s elections folks. Concerns about ink smudges on the ballot paper and the tabulators used in Maricopa County prompted officials there to purchase a specific felt-tip, quick-drying pen for use during in-person voting on Tuesday.

However, the county’s good intentions came under attack in recent days, as various candidates as well as the chair of the Arizona Republican Committee suggested there was something nefarious at work.

One such candidate was Gail Golec, who was running in the Republican primary for Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, District 2. Golec encouraged voters not to use the Pentel pen, and even suggested using the pen made it easier for poll workers to alter voters’ selections.

An exasperated Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer repeatedly said last week that voters will not be turned away from Maricopa County’s voting centers if they bring their favorite black or blue-inked pen. But doing so means voters need to be prepared for any problems.

“Just as we tell voters they shouldn’t use red pens, shouldn’t use pencil, shouldn’t use crayon, we are telling voters that -to help us ensure an accurate and smooth election- you should use the Pentel pen if you are voting in-person on election day,” Richer said.

Then on Tuesday, Golec encouraged voters to commit theft of government property by stealing the Pentel pens from voting centers. Her conduct drew the ire of Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Miller, who issued a cease-and-desist letter.

The county attorney pointed out theft of government property is a crime, adding that “encouraging theft of the fast-drying ink pens specifically recommended for election day voting is a deliberate attempt to interfere with election administration and will have the harmful effect of delaying the vote tabulation of election day ballots, as the wet ink harms the vote center tabulation machines.”

Miller’s comments simply prompted Golec to double down on her encouragement of removing the pens from Maricopa County’s 200+ voting centers. But this time she declared doing so is not theft, but rather an act to “protect our vote.”

MORE ABOUT GOLEC HERE

But all was not negative for Richer and Maricopa County’s elections directors on Tuesday. They received praise from many voters, including one of Arizona’s top lobbyists.

Another shout-out was provided by Merissa Hamilton of EZAZ.org, a civics grassroots organization in Maricopa County. Over the weekend, one of the group’s volunteers ended up in the Intensive Care Unit at Banner University Medical Center – Phoenix before he had a chance to vote.

According to Hamilton, the volunteer named Eric was visited at the hospital Tuesday morning by members of Maricopa County’s Special Elections Board and allowed to cast his ballot under a state law which provides several options for disabled or ill voters.