quick take

While some polling place counting machines in Maricopa County, Arizona, were unable to process their ballots on part of Election Day, affected voters are encouraged to leave their ballots in a safe box or use other polling machines. But some conservatives, including former President Donald Trump, made unsubstantiated claims that the recession represented an attempt to “steal” the election.

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A printer in Maricopa County, Arizona, produced ballots too thin for scanners to read at some polling places on Election Day. According to the Maricopa County Elections Office.

Election officials identified the problem and began fixing it by mid-afternoon, the elections office said. Post to Twitter. tabulator about 60 county 200+ Polling Places Affected.

Election officials all day advised Voters can place their ballots in a secure box to be counted later, or check out the polling place and vote elsewhere.

The Arizona election has been in the public eye this mid-cycle. a list of electoral deniers was on the ballot Statewide offices — including Republican candidate for governor Kari Lake began to question In this year’s election as votes were being counted in her close race. Arizona is also determine control Senators, between Democratic Senator Mark Kelly and Republican Rep. Blake Masters.

It was therefore not surprising that conservative commentators with large followings on social media used the voting situation to fuel fears about the integrity of the election.

Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was one of the first to do this. graph It was put together by researchers at the University of Washington, representing a growing number of claims about Maricopa’s status.

one of the kirk alleged tweet: “At most polling places in Maricopa, wait at least two hours. The Democrats running elections here knew this was going to happen. Congestion by design. Don’t let them make 2020 again. ”

county respondedshared a screenshot of Kirk’s tweet, stating, “None of the tweets below are accurate. Wait times are less than 30 minutes at the majority of vote centers and all votes are cast by either tabulators or secure ballot boxes. voters are being served.” The county included a link to its election sitevoters could find information about polling places and waiting times.

Also worth noting is the selection In Maricopa County, contrary to Kirk’s claims, it is run by a Republican-controlled board of oversight and the Office of the Registrar. Board of Supervisorsis a Republican, including the president, Maricopa County Recorder.

As a result, there were no long lines at most polling places, and the officials in charge of the election were mostly Republicans.

Still, others, including Donald Trump Jr. and commentator Candice Owens, amplified similar suggestions during the afternoon, according to the University of Washington. graph.

Former President Donald Trump frequently Election misinformation spread and took place provocative claims on his own social media platforms.he claimed “They” were trying to “steal” the election without identifying anyone.

However, if the county video The number of election officials who reported the problem this morning appeared to be an issue affecting a small number of locations, and the county provided relief to affected voters.

Maricopa County Registrar Stephen Richer reassured voters. statement, said: i promise. “

So the combination of a closely watched race and a malfunctioning election machine was a recipe for a widespread conspiracy theory. officials explained. As we wrote, Trump also made misleading claims about the city.

Update, Nov. 29: Maricopa County report The county’s root cause analysis is still ongoing, but on November 27, it provided details of its printer issue. According to the report, 43 of the county’s 223 vote centers were confirmed to have printer-related issues on Election Day. This is 19%. However, the report explained that other voting options meant that “all voters were given the ability to vote legally and safely.” There was an option to deposit and tally later. According to the report, 16,724 votes, or 1% of all county-issued ballots, were placed in secure boxes.

Editor’s Note: FactCheck.org is one of several organizations. Integration with Facebook To debunk misinformation shared on social media. See past stories here. Facebook has no control over our editorial content.

sauce

Maricopa County (@maricopacounty). “.@maricopavote has identified a solution to the tallying problem in about 60 Vote Centers. A county technician changed the printer settings and this issue seems to have been resolved.Some printers didn’t seem to produce thick enough timing marks on ballots1/3. twitter. November 8, 2022.

Maricopa County Elections Authority (@MaricopaVote). “Maricopa County has identified a solution to the tally problem at approximately 60 vote centers. The solution is working in 17 locations, and technicians located throughout the county are working to resolve the issue in the remaining locations.” Twitter. Nov. 8, 2022.

Maricopa County Elections Office. Places to vote — polling locations and drop-boxesAccessed 8 November 2022.

Maricopa County Elections Authority (@MaricopaVote). “Tip for Voters: Even if tabulators aren’t working on your site, you can still vote! You have the option to cast your ballot into a secure ballot box. Polls workers on-site at polling places are doing their best to ensure that you cast your ballot.” Twitter. Nov. 8, 2022.

Starbird, Kate (@katestarbird). “Interactive Graph Tracking Discourse on: Maricopa County Voting Issues, incl. Legitimate concerns, motivated criticism, instructions to ensure votes are counted, and some false claims (deliberately).We will keep watching as this evolves” twitter. November 8, 2022.

Gore, D’Angelo, et al. “Trump Repeats Unsubstantiated and False Claims About Election.” FactCheck.org. Updated December 1, 2020.

Gore, D’Angelo, et al., “Debunking Trump’s Recent Arizona Election Allegations.” FactCheck.org. 20 July 2021.

Sanderson, Zev, et al.Twitter flagged Donald Trump’s tweets for election misinformation: they continued to spread on and off the platform” Misinformation Review. August 24, 2021.

Farley, Robert. “Trump’s Fake Voter Fraud Claims.” FactCheck.org. 19 October 2016.

Keely, Eugene, Rem Reader. “IG, Trump Arguments Regarding Wisconsin Election.” FactCheck.org. 8 April 2020.

Keely, Eugene, Rem Reader. “Trump’s Repeated Deceptive Attacks on Mail-in Ballots.” FactCheck.org. 25 Sept. 2020.

Rich, Stephen (@stephen_richer). “statement” twitter. November 8, 2022.

Keeley, Eugene. “Contrary to Trump Post, ‘Harmless Data Errors’ Responsible for Malfunctions at Several Polling Places in Detroit.” FactCheck.org. 8 November 2022.