One of the nation’s largest electoral districts and the most populous in the battleground state of Arizona, the district voted for Joe Biden in 2020 and quickly became one of the targets of Donald Trump’s election fraud claims.

In the days and weeks after that election, Maricopa County officials came under intense scrutiny from voters, the media and politicians, one election official said. newsweek It was difficult, dangerous, and depressing.

In the years since, efforts have been made to make the vote-counting process more public, including installing cameras in key parts of election centers and conducting tours for members of the public who want to know what goes on behind closed doors. New measures have been taken.

“I think you should always have a healthy skepticism when dealing with government agencies, and listen to what people have questions about,” said Jennifer Liewer, deputy elections director for Maricopa County Elections Communications. , it helps things go better.” said newsweek.

At the same time, Maricopa County is being forced to take steps to keep its 60 full-time employees and another 3,000 temporary employees safe in case it comes under attack again by President Trump in November.

Close elections in battleground states

Maricopa County, which includes the Phoenix metropolitan area, has a relatively even split between registered Republicans, Democrats, and independent voters. Arizona’s results in 2020 were close.

President Biden won the county with 50.3% of the vote, compared to 48.1% for Donald Trump, who claimed the state election was rigged.

Although some voting machines had isolated issues, Only investigations and courts can be found. Number of potentially fraudulent votes: 182 throughout Arizona.

That number was much lower than the 10,457-vote margin that won Biden in the state, but it didn’t stop Trump from continuing to make false claims.

“We see more fraud and voter fraud in Arizona than is necessary to change the outcome of the election,” Trump wrote months later. The votes were completely re-counted Biden’s victory is now confirmed.

Leewa said newsweek For members of her team, the seemingly endless coverage in the months after the last election took a toll.

“It’s discouraging to get so much attention,” she said. “We welcome scrutiny, but we have the resources and the capacity, and if you’re a small county, you don’t really need to be able to deal with misinformation.

“At the same time, documentaries and news cameras were coming here from all over the world, all the national news was coming. [outlet] is here to feature what’s happening here in Maricopa County, but it can be a bit of a double-edged sword. ”

New measures against election misinformation

Regarding concerns about the credibility of the election, Liewer said he believed only a small portion of local residents had concerns and blamed outside agitators for stirring up the doubts.

Liewer, an Arizona native who has lived and worked in the county for decades, believes the majority of Maricopa voters trust her and her team’s work.

Still, steps are being taken to secure more votes this time around.

A new website has been created to debunk misinformation and give voters a clear message about how elections are conducted in Maricopa County. The Arizona Senate released a report calling for similar action.

Meanwhile, Maricopa’s counting or processing room was equipped with 24/7 cameras, but the room was also blocked from access to the internet to prevent possible fraud. Tours are also offered for those who want to see the election process up close.

“Some pollsters have become national memes or their faces are used over and over again in articles, so we try to respect that.” Liewer said, adding that some employees prefer to stay out of the public eye. Camera for this.

“There are websites all over the world. [which] It’s like taking a clip of camera footage and adding your own story to what’s going on,” she added.

“We’ve had employees leave our company. We’ve had tenured employees leave their jobs due to some public exposure, some negative exposure.”

A judge recently allowed election workers’ names and personal information to be redacted from public records in an effort to protect them.

Liewer said that while she and her team want transparency in the process, that doesn’t mean individual election workers — regular, nonpartisan civil servants — should have their identities revealed.

Election day is approaching again

In preparing for November, Liewer said it’s important to have multiple plans in place in case something goes wrong, from employee absences to power outages at polling places, and ideally these The plan was redundant, he added.

The team also strives to pick up each other’s slack and support each other.

Liewer also said it’s important to emphasize how important and exciting Election Day is.

“There’s nothing else like it,” she said. “You’re listening to someone. [coming] If you’re voting for the first time, a poll worker will know about it and ask, “Can I announce?”

“Then the entire voting center will know, and when that person enters their ballot into the tabulation machine, they will usually applaud,” Liewer continued.

“There are still many good things going on that can be overshadowed by negative emotions.”

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