Election workers sort ballots at the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center on Nov. 9, 2022, in Phoenix. Photo by John Moore | Getty Images
As concerns grow nationwide about potential political violence at the polls, Maricopa County, the nation’s fourth most populous county, is trying to alleviate security concerns one week out from Election Day.
As of Oct. 28, the county had received more than one million early ballots with the bulk of them — over 940,000 — coming to the county via ballot drop boxes or the United States Postal Service. The remaining 75,000 have come from voters who used early polling locations.
Maricopa County Director of Elections Scott Jarret said, during a Tuesday press conference in Phoenix, that the county is surpassing voter turnout for the 2016 and 2020 elections. On Oct. 28 alone, more than 17,000 voters cast their early ballots, according to Maricopa County Supervisor Bill Gates.
As voter turnout has increased, so has a national focus on Maricopa County, which has been at the forefront of election fraud conspiracy theories, and has had a number of high profile candidates who have made national and international headlines for promoting these theories. Arizona has morphed into a swing state in recent years, leading to increased attention from political campaigns and news media across the country.
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That increased attention has come with increased security risks. Multiple people over the past few years have been arrested for making violent threats aimed at Maricopa County election workers and officials who oversee elections.
Maricopa County Sheriff Russ Skinner told the room of reporters Tuesday that he, along with federal and local law enforcement officers, have been partaking in “immense planning” for over a year to ensure the safety of voters and election workers alike.
“We don’t have any tolerance for criminal activity,” Skinner said, adding that law enforcement will not tolerate threats of violence or those that seek to intimidate voters.
Those threats so far are fewer than during past elections, according to Skinner, but his agency is still taking precautions to ensure that threats are being monitored and reported to the appropriate agencies.
Jarret took the time to tell reporters Tuesday that Maricopa County’s two outdoor drop boxes are equipped with fire suppression equipment and are monitored 24/7.
On Oct. 24 a man in Phoenix was arrested after he reportedly set fire to a mailbox, destroying some ballots that were inside. The man, who has a history of arrests and being unhoused, told police he was not committing the act to target ballots, but that he wanted to be arrested.
However, drop boxes in Washington and Oregon were set ablaze by an “incendiary device” that destroyed a large number of ballots, raising concerns about future attacks at other drop boxes around the country.
Drop boxes became a point of contention prior to the 2022 midterm election, when conservative filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza promoted his film “2000 Mules,” which claimed that “ballot mules” were dropping off fraudulent ballots at drop boxes across the country. The film has been widely discredited and there has been no evidence to substantiate such claims.
Even so, ballot drop boxes have become a point of focus for unsubstantiated claims of fraud from Republicans. The film’s makers have refused to provide evidence backing up their claims, and former Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, a Republican, has said both the FBI and the IRS should investigate nonprofit group True the Vote, which helped make the film, for alleged fraud related to the claims.
“Prior to 2020, we didn’t have these issues,” Skinner said of the need for additional security around polling places as well as the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center, commonly referred to as MCTEC.
MCTEC became the focus of conspiracy-driven protests after President Joe Biden’s win over former President Donald Trump. Crowds of protesters, some armed, gathered outside the facility after the 2020 election, and some even attempted to get inside.
Now, MCTEC’s parking lot where protesters previously gathered is fenced off and Skinner said that those who may come to protest are welcome to do so in “free speech zones” that do not interfere with MCTEC operations.
Skinner would not elaborate on specifics of the broad security planned for Election Day or at MCTEC saying he did not want to divulge how MCSO plans to be operating, however, during the primary earlier this year the Arizona Mirror observed an MCSO drone, snipers and bomb sniffing dogs patrolling the building.
Those increased demonstrations of force are something Skinner said his office is trying to be mindful of so as not to scare off those who may show up to protest.
“We don’t want to intimidate anybody,” Skinner said. “This is a double edged sword for us.”
The Phoenix Police Department as well as the Arizona Department of Public Safety will be assisting MCSO on Election Day, Skinner said. Up to 200 MCSO employees will be working per day to ensure safety on and after Election Day, Skinner said.
“I think it is sad that this is where we are at that we have to have a press conference based on security,” Gates said. “I think it is a sad commentary of what has happened in this country the past four years.”
The press conference also marked the last day for voters to mail-in their early ballot. After Tuesday, voters can drop off their early ballot at a polling location or drop box, or they can choose to vote early in person or on Election Day.
Those looking to find locations to drop off a ballot or vote in-person can do so at the county’s website.
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