Sen.Kelly Townsend wants answers from the county why some voters were frustrated in their attempts to cast ballots./Screengrab YouTube
By Ray Stern || TheArizona Republic
A new state Senate subpoena served to Maricopa County officials demands extensive information about Election Day problems, but is unenforceable without a Senate vote. Sen. Kelly Townsend R-Apache Junction, who issued the subpoena that was served to the county on Wednesday, said she’s trying to get answers about why some voters were frustrated in their attempts to cast ballots.
If she cannot find a majority of votes to enforce it, “I still have to do my job — I still have to ask the questions,” she told The Arizona Republic.
The county Board of Supervisors, through a spokesperson, declined comment about the subpoena other than acknowledging it was received.
Even without being enforced, the subpoena adds more grist to the call for a new election in the county by conspiracy theorists and Trump-supporting Republican candidates who lost their races to Democratic opponents. They claim the polling-place problems, in which printer ink issues kept ballots from being accepted by tabulator machines, led to numerous spoiled votes or people who abandoned the process after attempting to vote.
On Saturday, the state Attorney General’s Election Integrity Unit demanded information from the county about the same problems and suggested that county officials may not have followed state election law. Two of Arizona’s 15 counties, Cochise and Mohave, delayed certifying their election results until the Nov. 28 deadline because of questions about the voting process.
Maricopa County election officials have downplayed the issues, saying that no voters were disenfranchised. They and state officials have said they will carry out certification of the Nov. 8 election even if some counties don’t. The county and state certification deadlines are Nov. 28 and Dec. 5, respectively.
