PHOENIX — About 1.5 million people voted in Maricopa County last week.
Wednesday, as ballots were still being counted, a handful of voters attended the Board of Supervisors meeting.
They were there for the last order of business and public comment. Frustration prevailed for most of the citizens who spoke about their election experience.
There was Barbara Jennings, a poll worker who said, "Ran out of toner and our tabulator was spitting out the ballots."
Jeff Caldwell a precinct captain said, "The queue to the hotline for the election workers got to be over an hour long," Caldwell said. "Some of the workers lost connections because of waiting so long just to check out a voter at a vote center."
Some voters had other complaints, "This is an illegitimate election. It is your job to provide the remedy. We want a secure fair election. Make it happen," Michelle Dillard said.
Kathleen Falcon said, "The 2020 election was red but something happened. Something unethical and it seems to be recurring again."
In all, 23 people expressed frustration over voting machines that didn't work, long lines, and unsubstantiated claims the fix was in to ensure Democrats won.
They registered their complaints to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors. "The only option," one man said, "was nullification, re-vote and a hand count."
Throwing out the election will not happen, because as Supervisor Thomas Galvin later explained when it comes to elections, the Board of Supervisors adheres to state law. "If people have issues with how long it takes to count the votes, then go to the legislature," Galvin said.
Galvin, who took notes during the meeting, promised the board will work to fix what went wrong on election day, and also praised election workers for their efforts. "I want to tip my hat to the election workers who got to work immediately to rectify the problem. So, there's issues here that occurred and it's incumbent upon us to understand what happened to make sure next time it doesn't happen again."
