Politics

Slew Of Problems At Polling Sites Prevent Voters From Casting Ballots On Primary Day In Arizona

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Dozens of voters at at least four polling sites in Arizona were turned away from the ballots on primary day because voting machines were out of operation.

“This is not a hiccup, this is a serious concern where lots of voters in Maricopa County are not able to get voting,” Maricopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes said in a press conference on Tuesday.

The issue arose after contracted workers who were hired to set up voting machines across the Phoenix area failed to show up to perform their checks on Monday, rendering polling sites down for voters to cast their ballots. More than 100 employees were contracted to perform checks on 503  polling sites, but more than 30 workers were no-shows, Fontes said, forcing him to send department employees to abandoned sites to tackle the issues at the poll sites after the problem was reported to him at 2 p.m. on Monday.

Voters were turned away from polling sites that were not properly checked and advised to use one of the 40 sites available to any voter regardless of the area they are registered to, according to reports by Fox 10, the local affiliate in Arizona.

Voters cast their ballots in the primaries on Tuesday to elect candidates for Senate, representatives in multiple congressional districts and  a Democratic candidate to face off incumbent Republican Gov. Doug Ducey in the gubernatorial race.

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