Arizona Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Wright on Saturday demanded Maricopa County officials produce an accounting of ballots allegedly stuffed in black duffle bags during the ballot tabulation process on November 8.
Wright, who is a part of the state’s Elections Integrity Unit, issued a letter demanding Thomas Liddy of the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office look into the alleged comingling of ballots in black duffle bags at polling locations throughout the county that were transferred to the Election Department’s in Phoenix because they could not be properly counted by Maricopa County allegedly due to tabulation and ballot printer errors:
Due to the widespread problems in non-uniform printer configuration settings, many voters were unable to tabulate their ballots on Election Day using on-site tabulators. Instead, voters were instructed to deposit their ballot in “Door 3.” According to statements by Chairman Gates, Recorder Richer, and Maricopa County official communications, “Door 3” ballots were transported to Maricopa County Tabulation and Center to be tabulated by the HiPro 821 or Cannon G1130 tabulators at central count.
An election worker scans ballots at the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center on November 11, 2022 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
The letter states the county allegedly failed to handle the ballots correctly by specifically commingling non-tabulated ballots with tabulated ballots in black duffle bags shipped to Phoenix. The county’s alleged mistreatment of ballots could impact more than 1700 votes, according to an observer of the balloting process:
Maricopa County appears to have failed to adhere to the statutory guidelines in segregating, counting, tabulating, tallying, and transporting the “Door 3” ballots. In fact, Maricopa County has admitted that. in some voting locations, “Door 3” non-tabulated ballots were commingled with tabulated ballots at the voting location. Further, we have received a sworn complaint from an election observer indicating that more than 1700 “Door 3” non-tabulated ballots from one voting location were placed in black duffle bags that were intended to be used for tabulated ballots.
An election worker removes tabulated ballots from the machine inside the Maricopa County Recorders Office, Thursday, November 10, 2022, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)
Assistant Attorney General Wright asked for a report on the alleged commingling of ballots in black duffle bags, along with information about how the alleged mistreatment of ballots was cured to provide an accurate election result.
[P]lease provide a written report regarding how many ballots were commingled, how many ballots were placed inside the black duffle bags intended for tabulated ballots, how and when Maricopa became aware of the related problems, and how these problems were ultimately resolved.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.
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