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Kari Lake Gives an Update on Voter Disenfranchisement in Arizona

Katie Pavlich
Katie Pavlich  |  November 17, 2022 10:15 AM

Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake gave an update Thursday morning about the status of her legal fight after voters were disenfranchised on Election Day. 

On Election Day 25 percent of vote tabulation machines in the state's largest county, Maricopa, were not working. It took hours for election officials to fix the problem. Despite the delays and long lines, a judge refused to extend voting hours. 

Over the weekend, Arizona Republicans officially accused Maricopa County officials of  disenfranchising voters. 

"The Republican Party of Arizona has partnered with Big Data Polling to conduct exit polling on Arizona voters following the 2022 Midterms General Election. Data from November 1st, 2022, through November 8th, 2022, indicates that Republican voters were disproportionately and negatively impacted while voting in Arizona’s GOP strongholds," the Republican Party of Arizona released in a statement. "Exit polling shows that a low of 10 percent to a high of 17 percent of total turnout is Election Day Drop Offs. To be clear, that is defined as a voter who physically delivered their mail-in ballot to a polling station on Election Day. While historic, the publicly reported information showing a 13% drop-off rate correlates with our exit poll data."

"Of those who reported problems casting a ballot on Election Day, 28% live and vote in the 1st Congressional District (REP), 14% in the 4th Congressional District (DEM), 30% in the 5th Congressional District (REP), 14% in the 6th Congressional District (DEM) and 13% in the 8th Congressional District (REP)," the statement continues. "It was no secret that Republicans intended to vote on Election Day. The RPAZ and others publicly urged Maricopa County to prepare for a historic day of turnout. Sadly, that fell on deaf ears. The officials should have known better after an unprecedented number of Election Day voters during the Primary Election in August. While Democrats are more likely to vote by mail and thus were disproportionately less likely to be harmed by problems with tabulators and printers that arose on Election Day."

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