PHOENIX — Interim Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell has sent a cease and desist letter to county supervisor candidate Gail Golec after she reportedly sent a tweet out asking voters to steal pens provided at voting locations.
“This morning, you tweeted advice that people should steal the pens that are provided by Maricopa County's Elections Department in polling locations. As you well know, theft of any sort is unlawful; moreover encouraging theft of the fast-drying ink pens specifically recommended for election day voting is a deliberate attempt to interfere with election administration and will have the harmful effect of delaying the vote tabulation of election day ballots, as the wet ink harms the vote center tabulation machines.”
Golec shared the letter Tuesday and falsely claimed that the felt tip pens provided would let votes be changed. The county, however, said that the felt tip pens are fast drying, and using ballpoint pens instead could smear on a ballot and cause issues with tabulation machines.
More than 18K voters have successfully cast a ballot in person so far today! Minor tech issues have been resolved as well as reports of stolen pens. Please do not remove any voting materials from the polling place, including pens.https://t.co/WXsuEj0sDe
— Maricopa County Elections Department (@MaricopaVote) August 2, 2022
