In Maricopa County, which includes the city of Phoenix, poll workers reported that about 20 percent of the 223 polling places are experiencing difficulties.
According to an election worker, the defective machines should not affect the correctness of the election results – something that many voters do not believe.
In 2020, President Democrat Joe Biden won Arizona by only 10,000 votes against his opponent, Republican Donald Trump. Then it was the state’s largest county, Maricopa County, where the majority of the state’s population lives, that was the basis for Biden’s advantage.
But many Arizonans, the majority of whom live in rural areas and have historically been Republican, viewed the victory with suspicion — sparking conspiracy theories about a rigged election.
Trump and his supporters have since spent a lot of time pushing baseless claims of voter fraud. This despite several investigations – including one funded by Republicans – finding no evidence of fraud.
Over the past two years, poll workers have worked to boost voter confidence, but Tuesday’s machine collapse was taken as direct evidence among Republican voters that cheating is happening again.
“It’s happening again,” says a voter, who did not want to give his name.