Tuesday’s Election Chaos In Arizona’s Maricopa County

Just in case you were inclined to believe that after 2020 we have the most secure elections ever, we have this story to show that the facts indicate otherwise.

Our friends at the Arizona Sun Times (part of the must-read Star News Network) report that chaos once again reigned supreme in conservative precincts in Arizona’s Maricopa County.

Rachel Alexander reported voters became angry on Election Day in Maricopa County after they showed up at the polls and found them closed already. Grassroots conservative activist Merissa Hamilton reported Tuesday evening that dozens of voters told her they were told by the Maricopa County Recorder’s office that the polls closed at 7 p.m. However, eight polling locations closed at 4:30 p.m., which is “at least 17 percent” of the county’s locations, according to Hamilton who denounced it as “complete voter disenfranchisement!” Since Republicans are far more likely to vote in person on Election Day than Democrats, it disproportionately affected them.

Hamilton said on X, “ABSOLUTE CHAOS ON ELECTION DAY IN @MARICOPACOUNTY (AGAIN). Per dozens of voters @RecordersOffice told people they could vote until 7pm @ PV. It closed @ 430. Several voters say they can’t vote now. We’ve talked to hundreds of voters tonight to redirect them to new locations.”

Ms. Alexander reported Hamilton and others from the activist group EZAZ interviewed some of the stressed-out voters. A man named John said on video that after he got to a closed location, he found another one that allowed drop-off ballots and drove there next. But even though he got there right before 7 p.m., as he started to walk in the door, the workers told him they were closing. “I’m very upset about it, they took my vote away,” he told Hamilton.

According to Ms. Alexander’s reporting a man named Steve showed up at a polling location right before 7 p.m. that had closed early. Since it was so close to 7 p.m., he did not have time to drive to another location and was unable to vote. “I’m going to refer this to legal counsel,” he said. Similarly, a woman named DeeAnn said she arrived at a polling location at 6:56 p.m. with her ballot and her husband’s ballot but it had closed early. A man named Vince said on video that he also showed up right before 7 p.m. and had the same experience.

Voters in Phoenix were asked on their ballot five questions about bonds, including bonds for schools. All bond measures passed. Other cities in Maricopa County had similar questions on their ballots.

Hamilton posted a video of numerous voters driving and walking up to a polling location at Paradise Unified School District that had closed. Some of her team members remained there to help direct voters to other locations. In a video discussing all of the voters showing up, Hamilton said that it was “completely unacceptable” for multiple polling locations to close before people even got off of work. She said one voter told them that the county told them to go to the location after it had closed.

A man named Daniel said he called the county to ask where to go to vote, and when he arrived there, it was closed. Another man who lives in Scottsdale said he called at 2 p.m. and asked for the nearest polling location, and he showed up after 4:30 p.m. and it was closed. A woman named Vanessa who lives in Paradise Valley experienced a similar situation. One man said he called the county and no one answered.

Exacerbating the problem, some officials also stated the polls were open until 7 p.m. Representative Ruben Gallego (D-AZ-03), who is running against Kari Lake for the U.S. Senate, posted on X on Tuesday, “It’s Election Day, Arizona! Polls are open until 7pm. If you haven’t voted yet, get the job done: my.arizona.vote.”

Naturally, the political establishment in Arizona tried to deflect from the chaos by claiming all the confusion could have been sorted out by going to the County Recorder’s website, but the grassroots voters who were disenfranchised were having none of it.

“Complete voter disenfranchisement!” concluded Merissa Hamilton.

The Gateway Pundit’s Jordan Conradson went even further, “Maricopa County is rigging another election,” he said, in response to Hamilton’s post. “These crooks did it in 2020, 2022, 2023, and will do it again in 2024 if the Dems fail to jail the leading opposition candidate.”

Followers of Merissa Hamilton’s Twitter feed were predictably outraged.

“Richer must resign,” one man demanded.

“@stephen_richer should be fired for this,” another said. “That’s 2 elections he’s been responsible for where voters couldn’t vote. I hope he’s held to account for this severe suppression."

“He needs to be prosecuted!” wrote still another.

Whether these chaotic elections are planned, evidence of incompetence or just bad luck almost doesn’t matter at this point. There needs to be some serious reform in the administration of Maricopa County elections and we think one good reform would be to return to one day in person voting, where all precincts are open uniform hours – you know like it was back before Democrats and their Uniparty allies decided to make Election Day into Election Month and sow chaos throughout the system.

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