Voting in Maricopa County, AZ

[Gunnar]

I wish Kathy Hobbs had agreed to debate Cari Lake and had aggressively confronted her outrageous lies about the 2020 election being stolen from Trump. I'm afraid that her failure to do that may have doomed her chances of winning Arizona's Governorship. I hope she still manages to pull a victory despite that, but it isn't looking too good at the moment.

[Moksha]

Arizona must have seriously messed up its ballot counting system.

[honorentheos]

I wish Kathy Hobbs had agreed to debate Cari Lake and had aggressively confronted her outrageous lies about the 2020 election being stolen from Trump. I'm afraid that her failure to do that may have doomed her chances of winning Arizona's Governorship. I hope she still manages to pull a victory despite that, but it isn't looking too good at the moment.

It's difficult to armchair quarterback this one. Kari Lake is a practiced newscaster with a pitbull demeanor. Hobbs is a wonkish mom. I think her reluctance to go toe-to-toe against Lake in a format tailored for Lake shows Hobbs has pretty good judgement. But good judgement doesn't win elections in 2022. Who knows how it would have gone, but I do think Hobbs looked at the odds and opted for what seemed the least bad option. Hard to fault someone for knowing themselves and their opponent, and trusting voters to look to the issues. But trusting voters to look to the issues also doesn't win elections, so...

[honorentheos]

Arizona must have seriously messed up its ballot counting system.

No.

[Gunnar]

I wish Kathy Hobbs had agreed to debate Cari Lake and had aggressively confronted her outrageous lies about the 2020 election being stolen from Trump. I'm afraid that her failure to do that may have doomed her chances of winning Arizona's Governorship. I hope she still manages to pull a victory despite that, but it isn't looking too good at the moment.

It's difficult to armchair quarterback this one. Kari Lake is a practiced newscaster with a pitbull demeanor. Hobbs is a wonkish mom. I think her reluctance to go toe-to-toe against Lake in a format tailored for Lake shows Hobbs has pretty good judgement. But good judgement doesn't win elections in 2022. Who knows how it would have gone, but I do think Hobbs looked at the odds and opted for what seemed the least bad option. Hard to fault someone for knowing themselves and their opponent, and trusting voters to look to the issues. But trusting voters to look to the issues also doesn't win elections, so...

Maybe you're right. Thanks for that perspective. It seems very well considered and makes a lot of sense. I fervently hope Hobbs' decision turns out to have been the right one and that she manages to squeak out a win because of it.

[Moksha]

Arizona must have seriously messed up its ballot counting system.

No.

Okay, the speed of counting is perfectly normal as is Kari Lake's contention that it is potentially riddled with fraud depending upon whether she wins. The same goes for erecting barriers around the Maricopa County counting center.

[honorentheos]

the speed of counting is perfectly normal

Correct.

as is Kari Lake's contention that it is potentially riddled with fraud depending upon whether she wins.

No.

The same goes for erecting barriers around the Maricopa County counting center.

Sounds like something Culty would say.

Moksha, I'm not sure what you intended to convey with your initial comment or this follow-up, but the issues aren't with the ballot counting system. OP explained the problem which was an issue on election day. If you believe the time it takes to count the ballots is a problem, then you are taking issue with a race being close where procedures are in place to avoid error. If you are lumping in the folks who decided to stand around ballot dropoff centers with firearms then you are not discussing the vote counting system.

[honorentheos]

I'm wondering if this is just a local story since I haven't heard much about it beyond local news, but Arizona Republican County supervisors in Cochise County voted to not certify their county's election results - even though Republican candidates overwhelming won there. Governor-elect Katie Hobbs, as our current Secretary of State, has filed suit to force them to certify their results by December 8th. It's worth keeping in mind that she is sueing a county that voted overwhelmingly against her so the votes for her opponent will be counted. It could have the effect of costing the Republicans a House seat.

Bizarre doesn't even begin to capture it.

ETA: Not just local, it made The Guardian.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... al-battles

[MeDotOrg]

It's worth keeping in mind that she is sueing a county that voted overwhelmingly against her so the votes for her opponent will be counted. It could have the effect of costing the Republicans a House seat.

It's as if the GOP were playing poker, won the pot, and then threw their winnings back on the table and said the game was crooked.

I await the rationale (maybe too strong a word) given. If you say to the members of your party that they can't trust the results of an election where they win, what does their vote mean?

[Gunnar]

I'm wondering if this is just a local story since I haven't heard much about it beyond local news, but Arizona Republican County supervisors in Cochise County voted to not certify their county's election results - even though Republican candidates overwhelming won there. Governor-elect Katie Hobbs, as our current Secretary of State, has filed suit to force them to certify their results by December 8th. It's worth keeping in mind that she is sueing a county that voted overwhelmingly against her so the votes for her opponent will be counted. It could have the effect of costing the Republicans a House seat.

Bizarre doesn't even begin to capture it.

ETA: Not just local, it made The Guardian.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... al-battles

Bizarre indeed! Especially considering the fact that the Arizona County’s Refusal to Certify Election Results Could Cost GOP a House Seat and result in Cathy Hobbs winning majority to only increase!

In court papers, Hobbs’ office said that if the county refuses to certify by Dec. 8, the ballots of more than 47,000 county residents will not be included in the final tally.

That would flip the results of the race for Arizona’s Sixth Congressional District, where Republican Juan Ciscomani holds a 5,232-vote lead over Democrat Kirsten Engel in unofficial results, as well as the race for state Superintendent of Public Instruction, where the Republican candidate has a narrow lead.

How stupid can they get?

Maybe they are hoping that the race for the Sixth Congressional District really will flip to the Democrat candidate who got the fewer votes because of their refusal to certify the election results just so they can falsely claim: "See, the election really was rigged after all!"