Officials in key Arizona county combat misinformation, election security fears a day before midterms

Officials from Arizona's astir populous county, which volition assistance to determine immoderate of the astir intimately watched midterm predetermination races successful the state connected Tuesday, aimed to dispel heightened concerns astir misinformation and Election Day information connected Monday.

Key region officials refuted misinformation astir ballot counting spreading connected Twitter, among different platforms. County Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Gates said misinformation "really kicked into precocious gear" astatine the extremity of past week.

"We're present successful Maricopa County, we've got residents of Maricopa County that are trying to bash the close happening and recognize what the information is, and a batch of this misinformation is being dispersed by radical who don't adjacent unrecorded present successful Maricopa County," Gates said. "But for 1 crushed oregon different they privation to distract and they privation to make issues with our election."

For the past 2 years, Maricopa County has been ramping up efforts to combat misinformation, which has particularly affected the area. Following his decision successful the 2020 statesmanlike election, erstwhile President Donald Trump falsely blamed elector fraud successful respective counties crossed the country, including Maricopa. President Joe Biden won the region by implicit 45,000 votes arsenic Arizona helped to seal his electoral victory.

The pursuing year, Republicans launched a astir $7 cardinal audit successful the region to guarantee the validity of 2020 predetermination results. The audit recovered an adjacent larger borderline of victory for Biden and dispelled claims of fraud.

The region present has the country's eyes connected it arsenic it faces accrued threats to predetermination workers, elector intimidation astatine drop boxes and heightened concerns astir misleading accusation surrounding the midterms. Maricopa volition assistance to determine power of the U.S. Senate, arsenic Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly tries to support his spot against Republican challenger Blake Masters successful the enclosure divided evenly by party.

The federation has besides watched Arizona's contention for governor, wherever Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs faces Republican Kari Lake, a starring proponent of Trump's mendacious predetermination fraud claims.

Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone said the region is "committed to support the escaped ballot successful a republic."

"Anybody retired determination whose intentions are to undermine this effort, to make fear, to intimidate bully men and women who are trying to facilitate this process, you volition person to spell done america to get determination and it's not going to hap connected our watch," helium said.

Penzone who is besides a subordinate of the Committee for Safe and Secure Elections, a bipartisan predetermination enactment made up of section predetermination officials and instrumentality enforcement, besides warned elected officials to usage their platforms wisely.

"Your words matter. And if you take words that invoke violence, you volition beryllium listed connected the transgression reports also," helium said. "Don't deliberation that your words unsocial cannot get you successful trouble, due to the fact that they can."

As of Monday morning, the Maricopa County recorder's bureau received 974,760 aboriginal voting packets and signature verified 965,000 of those, according to region Recorder Stephen Richer. Despite misinformation and disinformation, Richer is assured that his bureau has built spot among voters.

"It is the extremity of the county, aft having done this for 2 years, that due to the fact that of the affirmative accusation that we person enactment retired and due to the fact that of our continued insistence connected addressing these claims and uncovering that not 1 has been accurate, that radical volition person assurance successful this process," helium said.

Gates besides remarked that the accrued involvement successful Maricopa County's predetermination is an denotation of the authorities of ideology successful the region and successful the state arsenic a whole.

"This truly is not astir us. This is astir what is going connected generally," Gates said. "The information that we person not lone reporters present from the U.S. but from astir the world, radical who person concerns astir our antiauthoritarian republic, astir what has happened to our elections."