On Election Day, Arizona was the focus of national attention due to a number of scandals.
In particular, state election authorities were attacked for what looked to be rampant election mishandling in Maricopa County. Twenty percent of voting stations in the county experienced defective vote tabulators, according to election authorities.
Because of this, voting site queues were quite lengthy. In other instances, wait times exceeded an hour. Some people were directed to locate another voting place after being denied access to polling stations. The Western Journal received more than twenty unique recordings of Arizona voters describing how difficult it was for them to vote. One voter had to spend seven hours in line.
It was anticipated that these same-day ballots would lean Republican. Cameron Arcand, a writer for Red State headquartered in Arizona, stated that multiple experts indicated as much.
The governor’s contest between Republican firebrand Kari Lake and the not-quite-as-energetic Democrat Katie Hobbs — the current Arizona secretary of state in charge of election administration — was a close one. Monday, the Associated Press declared Hobbs the winner with a roughly 20,000-vote lead against Lake.
Despite this, according to an inside source, Lake would not concede, as reported by The Western Journal. Floyd Brown, the founder of The Western Journal, also stated as much in a tweet.
Spent hours last night working with Lake team on a continuing war for Arizona. She will not go quietly into the night. She intends to stand and fight. She knew when she entered this race that it would be tough. Her opponents lack her courage. She is fighting for us. @KariLake
— Floyd Brown (@floydbrown) November 15, 2022
Now, of course, you know precisely how the Democrats are going to respond to this news. Despite the fact that Democrats are infamous election skeptics themselves, they will label Lake an election denial and say she is a threat to democracy. They will assert that her only responsible course of action would be to capitulate.
But relinquishing this contest wouldn’t be responsible; it would be just the reverse.
Given what transpired in Maricopa County on Election Day, so much remains unknown.
For instance, how many Republicans were deterred from voting due to lengthy queues and being turned away from polling places? How many hard-working men and women have seven hours to spare waiting in line on a Tuesday? How many have at least one hour to wait or drive to a different polling place if they are turned away?
All of this occurred during an election that Lake’s opponent ran. This was by no means the lone conflict of interest.
The Post Millennial reported that Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer and Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Gates established a PAC to oppose MAGA candidates like Lake.
Hobbs, Richer, and Gates administered the 2022 election in Maricopa County, the most populous county in Arizona. Nobody desired Kari Lake to win.
After an Election Day marred by glitches and obstacles for same-day voters and more than a week of counting votes, all three candidates obtained the desired conclusion.
It does not make you a “election denier” to acknowledge that something is amiss.
Lake should not give up until we get answers.