Sadiq and Dana Daniels cross the street after voting at the Surprise Court House polling location on Nov. 3, 2020, in Surprise, Ariz. Photo by || Christian Petersen /Getty Images
JEROD MACDONALD-EVOY
Arizona Mirror
A year out before the Presidential election used to be considered the calm time for election officials and watchers, but 2020 changed all that. Now election administrators and the people who assist them are trying to get ahead of what may come 509 days from now.
“This is supposed to be the quietest time in an election season,” Executive Director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research, David Becker, said to a room of journalists in Downtown Phoenix Thursday.
Becker and Maricopa County Supervisor Bill Gates spoke to journalists about the shift in climate toward election officials, the effect it has had, how elections are run and the rampant spread of disinformation that has continued since 2020 about an election that occurred nearly 1000 days ago.
Threats to election workers
Earlier this month, Gates announced that he would not be seeking re-election and, although he did not cite the continued threats and harassment he and his family have faced since 2020 as a reason for not seeking re-election, those threats have taken a toll on him personally.
Gates reiterated Thursday that he did not want people to feel sorry for him and that his story should be one of hope as he was able to identify what helped him deal with the stresses of the work he was doing and it allowed him to stand up for what was right. Gates continually referred to himself as an optimist.
However, the threats election officials and administrators are continuing to face in Arizona and nationally are still growing.
