Sounds of sanity echoed Tuesday in ruby-colored Mojave County when the Republican Oversight Board rejected plans to hand-count ballots in next year’s election.
Ah, not so much, because such a thing would likely be illegal.
Or because the county’s own research has proven that hand counts are less accurate than machine counted votes.
No, the county supervisors have come to their senses — three out of five, anyway — because they don’t want to spend the extra $1.1 million to fix a problem they don’t have.
Especially given the fact that the county is expected to run a budget deficit of $18 million to $20 million next year.
Mojave County had no election problems
“I don’t understand why you’re here and you’re not there when you’ve never had a problem with an election,” board chair Travis Lingenfelter told Senator Sonny Borrelli of the Republican city of Lake Havasu. Told.
Borrelli and Senator Wendy Rogers (R-Flagstaff), two of Congress’s most prominent election deniers, have called on Mojave to move to hand-counting votes next year. (This makes a great reference in Rogers’ weekly fundraiser petition.)
“This is not a Trump or Biden, Hobbes or Lake issue,” Borrelli told a board meeting on Tuesday. “To me this is a pure and simple national security issue.”
Still, it’s strange that it wasn’t a national security issue for President Trump until he lost.
But I did.
They tried hand counting.didn’t work
As a result of a pressure campaign to hand-count ballots, county elections officials actually ran a test last month to prove it was possible.
That is, when timely and accurate results are not required.
A team of seven manually tallied the 850 votes cast in last year’s general election.
It took 3 days of 8 hours to count up to 36 races on each ballot. They made his 46 mistakes and the error rate he had was 0.15%.
In contrast, certified equipment has a maximum allowable mechanical error rate of 0.00001%.
Mojave County Election Commissioner Allen Tempert estimated that it would take 245 people 19 days to count the votes. They’ll need to take over the venue and raise $1.1 million to make it happen.
“This is more than my annual budget,” he said.
And that is ahead of the inevitable lawsuits.
MAGA followers remained hysterical
None of this is a big deal for the MAGA Republicans, who no longer seem to trust elections even in dominant counties of all races.
They long ago bought the hooks, lines and sinkers that a disappointing cast of sour losers have spent the past three years selling them.
“We are on the verge of losing our republic,” one woman said at a board meeting on Tuesday. “I’m old enough to remember the 2020 and 2022 election debacles.”
Another way of looking at it:The Republican Party won 0-27 in the election campaign.move on
Trump and Kari Lake’s Mistake in Mojave County? Is there a difference of more than 3 to 1, respectively?
Hysteria is almost hysterical.
Here in the real world, there is no evidence of widespread election fraud or a nefarious conspiracy to elect Joe Biden.
Fiscal deficits saved the day
A ballot sample count audit (an audit required by state law to verify the accuracy of tallying machines) in Mojave County after last year’s election: 100% match.
Not so much that the tally of one vote is wrong.
Yet they were in Mojave County, seriously considering the ludicrous idea of moving to handcount.
“It’s not going to work,” election officials warned. “It doesn’t work.”
Luckily, the board voted 3 to 2 to drop the bill, so financial considerations saved Mojave County from their own country.
“Conservative Republicans, I don’t think we’re going to add another $1.1 million on top of the $18 million to $20 million budget deficit,” Lingenfelter said.
To contact Roberts, laurie.roberts@arizonarepublic.com. follow her on her twitter @ Laurie Roberts.
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