Flagstaff, Arizona — Laura Hueneke, Coconino County, Arizona Democratic Party Secretary, remembers what once passed as an Election Day issue.

“One day a rattlesnake came into the facility, so the facility had to stop counting and evacuate people,” Huenke told CBS News. “I don’t think any election official today would say they’re worried about rattlesnakes causing major disruption to voting and vote counting.”

Recently, in the battleground state of Arizona, Election denialism Rattlesnakes are prevalent. good old days Huenke and her Republican partner, Coconino County Republican Committee Chairman William Culbertson. They are working together to monitor vote counting in the county, which includes the city of Flagstaff.

“There’s always going to be people raising their eyebrows,” Culbertson said.

A CBS News poll found that 56% of Democrats and 26% of Republicans nationwide are “very confident” that their state can conduct elections accurately and fairly, but Republicans Thirty-two percent are “not confident,” compared to just 8% of Republicans. Democratic Party.

“All of this process is very transparent,” said Esril Musta, elections director for Democratic-majority Coconino County. “…The goal is to provide this kind of brutal transparency to the public.”

Coconino County spent about $1.5 million to upgrade its main vote-counting facility to achieve that brutal transparency.

“From my perspective, this is also a kind of reinvestment in some of the pillars of our fundamental contract with the people,” Musta said.

Republican-majority Pinal County, Arizona, also increased spending and built new facilities of its own.

“How do you put a dollar sign on democracy?” asked Pinal County Recorder Dana Lewis.

of ballot box Pinal County is equipped with GPS tracking devices to reassure the public that all voting equipment is secure, Ruiz said.

“I can track these cages with GPS units to within 5 feet,” Lewis said.

This shows how local authorities are trying Calming election skepticsthe same as those who mistakenly believe that aggregation machines are connected to the Internet.

Lewis explained that the company’s counting system is a “closed gateway,” meaning that everything that is counted at an election facility is placed in a “black box” in the same room as the ballots. Lewis emphasizes that the box is not connected to anything outside the room.

That’s also true in Coconino County.

“The tabulation machines are not connected to the internet,” Musta said.

Election officials say the investment is starting to pay dividends for voters.

“I think things are getting better because more people are coming together,” Culbertson said. “There are still some people who are skeptical.”

This is a standard that Musta is ready to meet.

“I have nothing to hide,” Musta said. “There was nothing to hide.”