Florida Counts Its Ballots in Hours, So Why Does Arizona Take Days?

[Valin]

Real Clear Politics

Todd Carney
November 14, 2022

As the saying goes, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing again and again and expecting a different result. If that’s true, then it is insane to expect Arizona to produce election results in a timely manner and free of controversy. Three months ago, Arizona’s administration of voting in the state primary election created chaos. Arizona let America down then, but many hoped that the state’s leaders would learn from that mistake and produce better results in November. No such luck: Arizona’s administration of the general election shows that its failed leadership has not learned anything.

Maricopa County, Arizona’s largest county, finds itself at the center of the voting controversy. Its voting administration is divided up between the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, the county recorder, and the secretary of state. The board handles the actual voting and counting of ballots, while the recorder’s office manages the registration and verification of voters. The secretary of state oversees voting in all Arizona counties.

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Everyone with a role in managing voting in Maricopa County contributed to this failure. Arizona’s secretary of state is Democrat Katie Hobbs, who is running for governor. Her office is overseeing the election that will determine whether she becomes the next governor. In 2018, Democrats wanted then Georgia secretary of state Brian Kemp to resign during his run for governor, and he ultimately did so as counting continued after the election. Hobbs refused to resign, yet she showed up to work for only 19 days in the six months leading up to the election. Hobbs should have been more dedicated to the office she held or else resigned it, especially considering the state’s disastrous primary.

The chairman of the Board of Supervisors, Republican Bill Gates, has attacked conservatives who raise questions about voting issues in Arizona. A few days before the election, Gates boasted that Maricopa was “prepared for anything.” It wasn’

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In the aftermath of this latest fiasco, Gates and Richer have been more apologetic. In contrast with his behavior after the primary, Richer is now being more direct about calls for changes to voting. In 2024, Gates and Richer will face the voters themselves. They have failed their constituents and the nation, and voters should remember that.

As for Hobbs: if she becomes the state’s next governor, voters should demand that she demonstrate a competency that she so far has not shown. 

[Valin]