Posted on 11/28/22
| News Source: The Hill
Supervisors in Arizona’s Maricopa County voted unanimously to certify their election canvass ahead of a state deadline on Monday, defying Republican objections.
Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake (R) and others in the GOP have seized on printer malfunctions in Maricopa County, Arizona’s most populous jurisdiction that includes Phoenix, making it an epicenter for election challenges as they called on supervisors to vote against certification.
The Republican-controlled board voted unanimously to certify the canvass on Monday at the conclusion of a tense meeting, insisting no voter was disenfranchised. Dozens of residents spoke about their concerns, at times interrupting supervisors, including some attendees who were escorted out of the room.
“These conversations need to focus on real issues. We can spend the next two years as we’ve spent the last two, fighting over conspiracy theories promoted on social media by people who know nothing about —” Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer (R) said at the meeting before he was cut off by boos from attendees.
Board Chairman Bill Gates (R), who repeatedly admonished attendees for the interruptions, reiterated his acknowledgement of the Election Day printer malfunctions and indicated the board will conduct an “even deeper dive” to fix the problem moving forward.
“Let me be abundantly clear: There has never been a perfect election, and this was not a perfect election,” Gates said. “There were issues, but we were transparent about that.”