PHOENIX — A judge has denied a motion filed by Republican lawyers to extend polling hours in Maricopa County.
Republican lawyers filed the motion this afternoon in response to reports of voting issues arising from printer issues with tabulation machines at multiple polling locations in the county.
During the hearing, lawyers for the RNC asked that polls be open an additional 3 hours until 10 p.m. to allow people to cast provisional ballots.
The county's attorney said that all 223 vote centers in the county remained open and that there was not a single instance of a voter being denied the right to vote.
Superior Court Judge Timothy Ryan agreed that the court did not have evidence to show that voters did not have the right to vote.
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RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel tweeted the announcement at 4:48 p.m. and said the following:
“The RNC is joining a Republican coalition to file an emergency motion to extend poll hours in Maricopa County because voting machines in over 25% of voting locations have experienced significant issues. The widespread issues – in an election administered by Democrat Secretary of State Katie Hobbs – are completely unacceptable, especially as Republicans flock to the polls to vote in-person on Election Day. We have dozens of attorneys and thousands of volunteers on the ground working to solve this issue and ensure that Arizona voters have the chance to make their voices heard.”
Although Katie Hobbs is the secretary of state, she is not directly administering the Maricopa County election. Arizona uses a decentralized election system, meaning each County is responsible for conducting its own election.
And in Maricopa County, 4 of the 5 members of the Board of Supervisors who oversee elections are Republicans.
The motion demands that voting hours in Arizona be extended until 10 p.m., and that the public release of tabulated early ballot returns in Maricopa County be suspended until 11 p.m.
The issue in question was the result of printer errors in some Vote Centers resulting in tabulation machines not working. The error didn't cause ballots to be misread, and other methods were made available for voters to return their ballots.
In 2016, the Arizona Democratic Party attempted to get the courts to keep the polls open longer due to Election Day issues. But a judge denied the plaintiff's request.
Decision 2022
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