In Arizona, where many voters cast ballots early, officials must verify and approve ballots in a process that can take days or weeks. The county initially reported some printing problems, claiming the ink on some ballots was too faint for their machines to read. But in a state at the center of widespread conspiracy theories after Trump lost in 2020, some Republicans have used the problems in Maricopa County to call for the elimination of early voting and vote-counting machines. The former president added fuel to the flames on Friday after he wrote on social media platform Truth Social: “These people are incompetent [,] corrupt. Theirs [sic] finding some very strange ballots? Attention, we have to protect Kari & Blake! #2020.” Ms Hobbs, meanwhile, tweeted: “This election will be decided by the voters, not by the volume with which an out-of-control ex-TV reporter can shout conspiracy theories.”
