County officials stressed that no one had been barred from voting and no ballots had been mishandled. I’ve been saying

“As far as I know, no voter who presented valid ID was rejected,” said Bill Gates, the Republican chairman of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors. Was it tallied: Was it tallied on site or at the county tally center?

Top attorneys for the Republican Party, including the national party and their respective candidates and committees, called on judges Tuesday afternoon to demand that county officials extend voting hours by three hours, among other things. , Republicans denied the request, arguing that voters were unable to demonstrate that they were denied the ability to vote.

Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, who is also a Democratic gubernatorial candidate, tried to reassure voters that the technical glitches were minor and would not interfere with the counting of votes.

“Everyone who votes can be confident that their votes will be counted,” said Mr. Hobbs, who stopped by a polling place in South Phoenix on the afternoon of the election.

As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 103,000 people were voting at polling stations, with lines forming at some polling stations. Gilbertson said he had less than 10 minutes of waiting time at about 75 vote centers. The majority of Arizona voters usually vote early.

Republican Maricopa County Recorder Steven Richer, who is responsible for voter registration and early voting, apologized to “disgruntled and inconvenienced voters” in a statement posted on Twitter. Richer promised that “all statutory votes will be counted.”

Kari Lake, the Republican nominee for governor, lashed out at the county over the matter, but was outraged when asked if there was any basis to say the results were inaccurate.

“I’m not suggesting that,” Lake told reporters Tuesday after voting in downtown Phoenix. “We’ll see what happens.” He urged people to line up and said, “Don’t let this madness stop you from voting.”

Critics of Arizona’s voting system have noted vote count problems on Twitter and conservative social media sites as examples of the state’s voting system needing an overhaul. One post, which includes a video of poll workers advising voters on their options, has been viewed more than 500,000 times. It was posted by Tyler Bowyer, chief operating officer of the political arm of pro-Trump youth group Turning Point USA. That group supported in-person voting in individual precincts on Election Day, and Bowyer was critical of the state’s early voting system.

How a group of pro-Trump youth remade the Arizona Republican Party and tested democracy

The issue has come to the attention of former President Donald Trump, who continues to dispute his state defeat in 2020 without justification. He said many Republicans have decided to vote Tuesday instead of mailing ballots. “I will go again,” he wrote on his Telegram. “People don’t stand for it!!!”

Online right-wing influencers also took up the issue. “We’re fixing it!” wrote Gateway Pundit, a blog that was the primary spreader of false claims about the 2020 election. “Why is taxpayer money being used to pay for tabulators that don’t work? Looks like it’s time to get back to what worked on election day. Paper ballots and hand counts!” I wrote an account for and Silk.

Those who preemptively suggested that something nefarious was going on included Blake Masters, the Republican Senate candidate from Arizona. Contending for the seat of Senator Mark Kelly (D, Arizona), Masters was the leading candidate to fuel suspicion, portraying an isolated incident of mechanical error as a Democrat ruse. “It’s hard to tell if we’re incompetent or if we’re doing worse,” he wrote. It’s just that I hope.”

Researchers who track the spread of misinformation online say the voting machine issue was one of the most common causes of conspiracy theories rolling out early Tuesday morning, with stories extending beyond Arizona. It also extends to Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Senior cybersecurity and infrastructure security agency officials have been in contact with election officials at both the Maricopa County and state levels to address technical issues that may affect their ability to manage elections in good faith. said there is. Now that it’s resolved, the agency plans to help promote election officials as a credible voice, officials said.

At the Glendale polling place, about 30 miles north of downtown Phoenix, as the sun sets on Election Day, potential voters line up for hours, turning the sky a pale pink above the desert Methodist doves. I was.

Wes and Cindy Granger finally voted here after waiting three hours.

“We would have been here until midnight,” said Cindy, 69.

The couple devoted themselves to voting in person and survived the long lines associated with trouble with the tallying machine. Because mail-in ballots and drop-boxes are unreliable.

“I think people in Arizona are suspicious anyway. When something like this happens, you become even more suspicious,” said Wes, 70, who returned from a three-day hunting trip to vote in person with his grandchildren. “Hopefully they can keep it down.”

The Grangers said they were allowed to use the district’s accessible voting device, a computerized touchscreen system, after failing to fill out ballots and run them through the counter. They left confident that Republican votes were counted across the board.

So did Erin O’Brien. The 41-year-old wrote her ballot in person and dropped it in the polling box to be counted later at the county registrar’s office. This is an alternative option for those who want shorter wait times.

O’Brien, who voted for the Democratic nominee’s list, said the process took an hour. She said she likes taking her teenage son to vote in person so she can show her son the importance of her vote in person.

“But I’ll probably mail it now,” she said with a laugh. “Because this is ridiculous.”

Tim Starks and Rosalind Helderman contributed to this report.