At a time in which our national sanity seems to be hanging by a thread, the midterm elections could be a tipping point for many of us.
This is by far one of the most engaged “off-year” elections in modern history, with the control of the House and Senate hanging in the balance, as well as a number of highly consequential gubernatorial races to boot.
And, as if to make it all just a bit more tense, this is the first election since the highly controversial 2020 contest, in which a vast number of Americans have cast doubts about our electoral security.
Early in the day in Arizona, officials were reporting some seemingly minor voting machine issues.
Maricopa County officials say that around 20% of their polling sites are experiencing issues with tabulation machines across the Valley, just hours into Election Day.
While the specific addresses and number of locations having issues have not been confirmed, the Maricopa County Recorder’s Officer says technicians have been called to fix the precinct tabulator machines that aren’t working.
“We’ve had a few tabulator issues at a couple locations where the tabulator isn’t immediately taking the ballot,” Richer said after being asked about two locations with reported issues – Burton Barr Library and Christ Lutheran Church. “Instead it can either be Central count tabulated here, or if that issue can be addressed there, then it can be fed into the tabulator – or voters can go to any of the other 221 voting locations.”
Officials were seeking to tamp down any concerns, however, and said that all votes were being counted.
Officials say that not every machine is broken at the affected voting sites, so residents may still be able to submit their ballots at the locations of their choice. It is still unknown why so many of the machines are having issues.
Voters have three options if they’re at a location experiencing problems:
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Stay where you are and wait for the tabulator to come online
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Leave the ballot in a locked box to be counted at the end of the day
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“Spoil” their ballot and go to a different, working polling location instead
Wait times are said to be in line with what was expected as these locations, and officials are pushing back against the idea that any voters are being disenfranchised.
