A voter drops his poll right into a drop field on the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Middle on November 07, 2022 in Phoenix, Arizona.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Photographs
Officers from Arizona’s most populous county, which is able to assist to determine a number of the most carefully watched midterm election races within the nation on Tuesday, aimed to dispel heightened issues about misinformation and Election Day safety on Monday.
Key county officers refuted misinformation about vote counting spreading on Twitter, amongst different platforms. County Board of Supervisors Chairman Invoice Gates mentioned misinformation “actually kicked into excessive gear” on the finish of final week.
“We’re right here in Maricopa County, we have residents of Maricopa County which can be making an attempt to do the fitting factor and perceive what the reality is, and a whole lot of this misinformation is being unfold by individuals who do not even reside right here in Maricopa County,” Gates mentioned. “However for one cause or one other they wish to distract and so they wish to create points with our election.”
For the previous two years, Maricopa County has been ramping up efforts to fight misinformation, which has particularly affected the realm. Following his defeat within the 2020 presidential election, former President Donald Trump falsely blamed voter fraud in a number of counties throughout the nation, together with Maricopa. President Joe Biden gained the county by over 45,000 votes as Arizona helped to seal his electoral victory.
The next yr, Republicans launched a virtually $7 million audit within the county to make sure the validity of 2020 election outcomes. The audit discovered a good bigger margin of victory for Biden and dispelled claims of fraud.
The county now has the nation’s eyes on it because it faces elevated threats to election employees, voter intimidation at drop bins and heightened issues about deceptive info surrounding the midterms. Maricopa will assist to determine management of the U.S. Senate, as Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly tries to defend his seat in opposition to Republican challenger Blake Masters within the chamber break up evenly by get together.
The nation has additionally watched Arizona’s race for governor, the place Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs faces Republican Kari Lake, a number one proponent of Trump’s false election fraud claims.
Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone mentioned the county is “dedicated to guard the free vote in a republic.”
“Anyone on the market whose intentions are to undermine this effort, to create concern, to intimidate good women and men who’re making an attempt to facilitate this course of, you’ll have to undergo us to get there and it isn’t going to occur on our watch,” he mentioned.
Penzone who can also be a member of the Committee for Secure and Safe Elections, a bipartisan election group made up of native election officers and regulation enforcement, additionally warned elected officers to make use of their platforms correctly.
“Your phrases matter. And in case you select phrases that invoke violence, you can be listed on the legal stories additionally,” he mentioned. “Do not suppose that your phrases alone can not get you in hassle, as a result of they will.”
As of Monday morning, the Maricopa County recorder’s workplace acquired 974,760 early voting packets and signature verified 965,000 of these, in response to county Recorder Stephen Richer. Regardless of misinformation and disinformation, Richer is assured that his workplace has constructed belief amongst voters.
“It’s the purpose of the county, after having finished this for 2 years, that due to the optimistic info that we’ve got put out and due to our continued insistence on addressing these claims and discovering that not one has been correct, that individuals could have confidence on this course of,” he mentioned.
Gates additionally remarked that the elevated curiosity in Maricopa County’s election is a sign of the state of democracy within the county and within the nation as an entire.
“This actually isn’t about us. That is about what’s going on usually,” Gates mentioned. “The truth that we’ve got not solely reporters right here from the U.S. however from world wide, individuals who have issues about our democratic republic, about what has occurred to our elections.”
