Thousands of ballots remain to be counted in Maricopa County, and authorities estimate that it might take until Friday evening or longer to tally them all, given that a hand-counted audit has already begun in Maricopa County.

Wednesday, the Maricopa County Elections Department announced through Twitter that a hand count audit had begun.

“The hand count audit has begun! Today the @MaricopaCounty Republican, Democratic, and Libertarian party chairs drew the races and ballots that hand count audit boards will review Saturday. This is an important step in ensuring the accuracy of the 2022 General Election results,” the department posted.

The hand count audit has begun! Today the @MaricopaCounty Republican, Democratic, and Libertarian party chairs drew the races and ballots that hand count audit boards will review Saturday. This is an important step in ensuring the accuracy of the 2022 General Election results. pic.twitter.com/0CmzftSSY1

— Maricopa County Elections Department (@MaricopaVote) November 10, 2022

Fox News reported on Tuesday that Maricopa experienced difficulties with its voting equipment.

Bill Gates (not the millionaire), the Maricopa County Supervisor and Chairman of the Board of Supervisors, informed the public on Tuesday that around twenty percent of polling places had defective devices.

Here is a message from Chairman Bill Gates and Recorder Stephen Richer with an update for @maricopacounty voters on Elections Day. pic.twitter.com/OkQczCklGb

— Maricopa County Elections Department (@MaricopaVote) November 8, 2022

This hampered the voting process in the most populated county in Arizona and delayed down the results.

Fox noted that while the state’s vote-counting equipment were problematic, voters had the option of submitting their ballots in a safe box.

This resulted in approximately 7% of all votes being cast in paper ballot boxes rather than being processed and counted digitally.

Reuters reported that as of Wednesday morning, authorities estimated that around 400,000 ballots remained uncounted.

Fox stated that Gates expected it would take until Friday evening to tally around 95 percent of Maricopa’s ballots due to the slowdown and the hand-count audit.

The United States is awaiting several critical Arizona elections.

270towin noted that the Senate race between Democrat Mark Kelly and Republican Blake Masters as well as the gubernatorial battle between Republican Kari Lake and Democrat Katie Hobbs remain undecided.

More on this story via The Western Journal:

Currently, Hobbs and Kelly have the lead.

One House race is still undetermined while Democrats won three other seats and Republicans took five.

Fox reported that as the counting continues in Maricopa, officials will issue updates each evening on the continued progression.