The holding of the election follows with suspicion two years after unsubstantiated allegations of electoral fraud by Trump and his supporters. On the whole, the elections are going well, but any error at the polling station gets a lot of attention.
Counting machines in Arizona rejecting valid ballot papers have caused a stir on social media. Counting machines in about one-fifth of the 223 polling stations in Maricopa County are having problems, but election officials do not believe this will result in delays or that votes are not counted, type CNN.
Nobody loses the right to vote. Nothing in this indicates electoral fraud or the like. This is a purely technical problem, says election official Bill Gates.
This did not stop the issue from spreading on social media. Donald Trump Jr, the son of the former president, has published posts suggesting this may be a sign of the Arizona election being stolen.
Trump rages
Trump himself has done so, too, in a post on his Truth Social platform.
– Reports from Arizona state that voting machines are not working in Republican and Conservative areas. Could this really be true when a large percentage of Republicans have waited until today to vote? Now it is on again. Trump writes that people will not tolerate this.
“Of course people will use this for such purposes,” another electoral official, Stephen Richer, sighs.
But in the ranks in Arizona, there are many who support Trump’s claims.
– This is happening again, says a voter who does not want to be named. 82-year-old Donald Newton says it’s unacceptable for such mistakes to happen.
The machines should have been tested a long time ago, he says.
technical problems
There was also a similar technical problem in New Jersey, while many polling stations in the country opened later than they were supposed to because poll workers were late. Here, the rule in most states is that business hours are then extended at the other end.
In some places in Pennsylvania, workplaces were reported to have run out of ballots, and many voters who had previously voted had to be helped to correct minor formal errors such as incorrect date setting.
– These are the things you see in every election. Susanna Goodman of the voting rights organization Common Cause says there’s nothing particularly alarming so far.
big presence
CNN He also writes about a higher-than-expected turnout in Michigan.
We hear from election workers across the state that they were pleasantly surprised by the number of people who turned out to vote in person, says state administration spokesperson Jake Rouleau.
Similar incidents occurred in several places resulting in a slight delay in the count. In Georgia, one of the states crucial to Senate elections, there were reports that many voters did not receive the ballot papers they requested.
More than 1,000 people were affected, but electoral authorities stated that they had issued the ballot papers and that all votes stamped on election day would be counted.
It does not affect the outcome of the elections
In Harris County, Texas, there were long queues, locked doors and voting machines that didn’t work, the Washington Post reported. There are problems at a few polling stations in the county, which is the third most populous state in Texas, Nadia Hakim says. Errors should be corrected by mid-day.
According to Vote.org, there is no indication that the events will affect the election results.
– This can happen, election workers and state authorities are working hard to solve problems and ensure that everyone can vote today. Opening up about this demonstrates the strength and resilience of our democracy, says Andrea Healy, president of the organization.
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