Officials in Maricopa County are still counting votes from last Tuesday’s midterm election — and the results of several races still hang in the balance — but they took a few minutes on Saturday to lash out at everyone from the voters and the candidates to bots and “disinformation super spreaders.”
The brief Twitter thread essentially informed everyone that every vote would be counted, counted only once, and then announced when the count was determined to be accurate — and not a second before.
“VOTERS: All legal votes will be counted. Your vote will count equally whether it is reported first, last, or somewhere in between. Thank you for participating,” the thread began.
CANDIDATES: All legal votes will be counted, including votes for you. If you have the most votes in the final tally, you will be elected. If you do not have the most votes, you will have lost your election.
— Maricopa County (@maricopacounty) November 12, 2022
“CANDIDATES: All legal votes will be counted, including votes for you,” it continued. “If you have the most votes in the final tally, you will be elected. If you do not have the most votes, you will have lost your election.”
Turning then to address the social media response to their protracted counting process, the thread continued: “DISINFORMATION SUPER SPREADERS: Please read Arizona election law & the elections procedures manual before asking leading questions about how something seems suspicious. There are processes + checks and balances in place to make sure every legal vote is only counted once.”
SOCIAL MEDIA BOTS: Your disapproval is duly noted but your upvotes and retweets will not be part of this year’s totals. This is not meant as an affront to your robot overlords, it’s just not allowed for in Arizona law.
— Maricopa County (@maricopacounty) November 12, 2022
“SOCIAL MEDIA BOTS: Your disapproval is duly noted but your upvotes and retweets will not be part of this year’s totals. This is not meant as an affront to your robot overlords, it’s just not allowed for in Arizona law,” the thread concluded.
Not everyone was buying the official story, however. One critic tweeted, “Maricopa County is using words like ‘disinformation superspreaders’ and calling everyone who challenges them ‘bots.’ This is textbook partisan language from people who are in a position that requires neutrality.”
Maricopa county is using words like “disinformation superspreaders” and calling everyone who challenges them “bots”. This is textbook partisan language from people who are in a position that requires neutrality. https://t.co/XtpHKkeN7o
— The Redheaded libertarian (@TRHLofficial) November 12, 2022
Maricopa County has been under scrutiny since before Election Day, when a number of federal-only ballots were sent out to voters who should have received full ballots. Things only got worse on Tuesday when some of the polling place tabulation machines failed to function properly right from the start. Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters (R) — who ultimately lost to Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) — then alleged ballots that had not yet been counted may have gotten mixed in with ballots that had already been passed through the functioning tabulation machines.
At the heart of the scrutiny is Arizona Democratic gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs — whose race is among those that are still too close to call — because, as the sitting Secretary of State, she is Arizona’s top election official.