The Associated Press
By BOB CHRISTIE, Associated Press
PHOENIX (AP) — When the Republican candidate for Arizona governor accused the state’s most populous county of “slow-rolling” the vote count to skew early election results, a local official fired back.
“Quite frankly, it is offensive for Kari Lake to say that these people behind me are slow-rolling this, when they’re working 14 to 18 hours” every day, said Bill Gates, the Republican chairman of the Maricopa County board of supervisors.
Gates and other election officials in Arizona's most populous county have been aggressively batting down rumors and slanted and false claims as vote counting comes under intense scrutiny in the battleground state. The accusations have come in all types and at all hours from former President Donald Trump and his supporters, Republican candidates and voters.
"Sadly, there continues to be a lot of misinformation from all different sources that are out on social media right now,” Gates said. “So that’s why we have to continue to do this.”
Election officials have had two years to hone their game.
In 2020, Maricopa County landed in the national spotlight while certifying results amid false claims the election was stolen from former President Donald Trump. The following year, it underwent an “audit” pushed by Republicans in the state Senate, which ended with a report validating Biden’s win.
“That was just a constant flow of misinformation that we became adept at responding to," Gates said. "We...
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