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Was Suppressing a Few Hundred Kari Lake Votes at Each Malfunctioning Polling Place Enough to Swing the Race?

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The only fair remedy to address the fiasco that occurred in Maricopa County on Election Day is a redo.

There is no doubt the candidates most impacted by the 70 polling locations experiencing inordinately long lines due, in part, to vote tabulating machines malfunctioning were Republicans like Kari Lake and attorney general candidate Abe Hamadeh.

Both trail their Democratic opponents by less than one percent of the vote.

As of this writing, Lake is about 18,000 votes behind Democrat Katie Hobbs with votes still incoming, though The Associated Press and other major media outlets have called the race for Hobbs.

Hamadeh is much closer, with only approximately 2,200 votes separating him from Democrat Kris Mayes.

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Over 2.5 million ballots have been cast statewide in the contest, and more than 1.5 million came out of Maricopa County, which encompasses the Phoenix metropolitan area.

Republican voters showed up heavily on Election Day.

Hamadeh tweeted on Saturday, “REMEMBER: 72%+ of the votes on Election Day in person were Republican. When you have 30% of the tabulating machines failing, causing people to leave the lines and give up. This is voter suppression targeting a political party.”

Do you think Maricopa County should redo the election?

Despite all the Election Day problems, Lake was able to close Hobbs’ lead from double-digits (about 183,000 votes), based on her advantage in the early voting tallies, to less than a percent (about 12,000 votes) by the Wednesday following the election, thanks to Election Day votes.

In her August primary, Lake took the lead over establishment Republican pick Karrin Taylor Robson the day after the election because of Election Day totals. Robson, like Hobbs, had leapt out to a double-digit lead on election night due to early voting and mail-in ballots.

Unlike the primary race, Lake never had to lead against Hobbs and arguably that was due to vote tabulator machine problems across Maricopa County on Election Day.

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The approximately 18,000 votes separating Lake and Hobbs breaks down to about 250 people being dissuaded from voting per the 70 ill-function polling stations.

For Hamadeh, about 30 people per location would make the difference.

It is entirely conceivable that hundreds of people either left the line or didn’t show up as they heard about the hours-long lines whether through the news or family or friends texting them, etc.

Here is what happened on Election Day in ruby red Anthem, north of Phoenix.

The same was true throughout the county.

This is Chandler in southeast Maricopa.

And here’s a picture from a polling location in Scottsdale, east of Phoenix.

The Western Journal received over 20 exclusive videos featuring Arizona voters explaining how difficult it was for them to cast their ballots. One voter had to wait in line for seven hours.

Lake suggested on Election Day the places most impacted by malfunctioning machines and long lines seemed to be Republican strongholds.

The Washington Post later reported there were heavily Democratic polling locations impacted too, but that of course misses the point that Republicans were voting in far greater numbers on Election Day than Democrats.

The results of last Tuesday’s elections are irreparably tainted due to interference on the field of play, if you will.

The only fair response is a redo of Maricopa County.

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Randy DeSoto has written more than 2,000 articles for The Western Journal since he joined the company in 2015. He is a graduate of West Point and Regent University School of Law. He is the author of the book "We Hold These Truths" and screenwriter of the political documentary "I Want Your Money."
Randy DeSoto is the senior staff writer for The Western Journal. He wrote and was the assistant producer of the documentary film "I Want Your Money" about the perils of Big Government, comparing the presidencies of Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama. Randy is the author of the book "We Hold These Truths," which addresses how leaders have appealed to beliefs found in the Declaration of Independence at defining moments in our nation's history. He has been published in several political sites and newspapers.

Randy graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point with a BS in political science and Regent University School of Law with a juris doctorate.
Birthplace
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Nationality
American
Honors/Awards
Graduated dean's list from West Point
Education
United States Military Academy at West Point, Regent University School of Law
Books Written
We Hold These Truths
Professional Memberships
Virginia and Pennsylvania state bars
Location
Phoenix, Arizona
Languages Spoken
English
Topics of Expertise
Politics, Entertainment, Faith




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