A mob of armed Trump cultists swarmed a Phoenix vote counting center on Wednesday night.
The Guardian reports: “The protesters, some of whom the local TV network ABC 15 Arizona reported were carrying weapons, briefly attempted to push inside the centre on Wednesday evening before being asked to leave. They appeared to be a mixture of Trump supporters and several far-right figures familiar at demonstrations in the state. … The situation in Arizona has been complicated by the decision by Fox News and Associated Press – whose assessments are used by the Guardian – to call the state for Biden on Wednesday when there were still hundreds of thousands of votes to be counted.”
KTAR reports: “Protesters could be heard chanting ‘count those votes’ and chastising Fox News Channel for calling Arizona for Democratic candidate Joe Biden on Tuesday, which was the first network to make that call. The crowd also voiced concerns over if ballots filled out with permanent marker were being counted.”
The Arizona Republic adds: “Elections departments across Arizona said there was no controversy over Sharpies and that they have processes in place to ensure ballots are counted regardless of what kind of utensil is used to fill them out. Still, the office of Attorney General Mark Brnovich, a Republican, asked questions of the Maricopa County Elections Department in a letter on Wednesday, saying it had received ‘hundreds of voter complaints regarding the use of Sharpie brand markers’ at voting centers. And attorneys filed a lawsuit on behalf of an Arizona voter given a Sharpie to complete her ballot at a polling place, arguing that all such voters should be allowed to observe the counting of their ballots in person. The Maricopa County Elections Department says voters can use black or blue ink or Sharpies to fill out ballots in person. Their new tabulation machines this election, which were tested many times, will count ballots with these types of pens.”
The NYT reports: “As of early Thursday, Mr. Biden led Mr. Trump in Maricopa County by 74,514 votes, almost 11,000 fewer than the previous update on Wednesday night. About 5 percent of the total vote remains to be counted there. Statewide, Mr. Biden leads Mr. Trump by less than three percentage points. Maricopa County’s next update will come after 9 p.m. Eastern on Thursday.”
