Key races in Arizona may not be called on election night

Judy Woodruff:

There are also close races in Arizona, Democratic Senator Mark Kelly hoping to fend off Republican challenger Blake Masters. The state has also become a focal point for fears about our democratic system. That's because several of the Republican candidates in the state have falsely denied the results of the 2020 election.

Armed vigilantes also showed up at election drop boxes ahead of Election Day, sparking complaints of intimidation.

Stephanie Sy is at a voting center in downtown Phoenix. She has been tracking all of this.

Hello, Stephanie.

So, we know things got off to kind of Iraqi start in Maricopa County this morning. There were malfunctioning tabulation machines. What do you know about all that?

Stephanie Sy:

Good evening, Judy.

We are at the Central Library in downtown Phoenix, one of the major polling centers. And what a beautiful thing to see people afterward dropping off their ballots. We have seen a steady stream of voters here, indicating there will be a healthy turnout here in Maricopa County.

But, as you said, there were problems earlier today. Election officials here in Maricopa County said that some 20 percent of voting centers were experiencing problems with their tabulation machines. Those aren't the voting machines. Those are the machines that count the votes for people that do so in person.

They at this hour have said they have figured this issue out, that it was not a tabulation machine problem, but, rather, a printer problem, and they are now sending out technicians to change the printer settings with two hours before polls close.

But, Judy, this was just about the worst way that you could imagine the day starting for Maricopa County election officials, who have really taken great pains to show people that they are on top of election procedures and security.

There are Republicans, as you know, up and down the ballot here in Arizona who have run on election fraud claims, repeating disproven claims about the 2020 electoral process.

Among those is GOP gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake. And I did have an opportunity to ask her earlier about what she thought of the tabulation machine problems. She did say that she believes these problems only occurred in conservative areas.

That is simply not true, Judy. This, where I'm standing, is a Democratic stronghold, downtown Phoenix, and they had problems at this voting center. But let's hear what else she had to say.

Kari Lake (R), Arizona Gubernatorial Candidate: My question is, do you think what's happening here in Maricopa County is normal?

We have had problems after problems. This is incompetency. I hope it's not malice. But we're going to fix it. We're going to win.

Judy Woodruff:

And, Stephanie, it sounds like she's sticking to what she was saying.

And I know you were telling us you are waiting to find out how long we will wait to see tonight's results from Arizona.

Stephanie Sy, we're going to be coming back to you throughout the night, Stephanie joining us from Phoenix. Thank you.