Lake, in a 2 1/2-minute video, made no mention of the resignation in her most extensive public comments since losing the election. Before the election, he had declined to say he would concede if he lost the race to Democrat Katie Hobbs. “Please be assured that I have assembled the best and brightest legal team and we are exploring every avenue to right the many wrongs that were made last week,” Lake said. “I’m doing everything in my power to right those wrongs.” He pointed to long lines at some polling places exacerbated by problems with ballot printers at about a third of polling places in Maricopa County, the state’s largest county. He said the problems deprived voters who could not wait at the polls. County elections officials said all ballots were counted and voters could go to any polling place in the county, many of which had little to no lines, with wait times posted online. Elections officials traced the problems to a printer setting that sometimes resulted in ballots being printed too lightly for on-site taggers to read. They said they used the same setup in the August primary and for pre-election testing and there were no widespread issues. About 17,000 ballots were not scanned at precinct-based vote counters and were instead placed in a collection box to be counted by more sophisticated machines at the county election headquarters. The collection box became known as “box three”. Bill Gates, the Republican chairman of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, accused state GOP Chairwoman Kelli Ward and other prominent Republicans of causing delays and long lines by telling supporters not to use box three. “This team, we’ve accepted our responsibility in this,” Gates said Monday. “But I’m not prepared to accept responsibility for issues caused by others. And it’s clear to me that those lines were drawn because leaders of a political party were spreading misinformation.” Republicans asked a judge to extend polling hours because of the problems. The judge refused, saying they presented no evidence that anyone was disenfranchised. Democrats voted overwhelmingly through mail-in ballots. Election Day in-person polls heavily favored the GOP because Lake and other prominent Republicans had claimed it was safer, something election experts dispute. Lake has said little since the Associated Press and other news organizations called the fight for Hobbs on Monday. Late Wednesday, he posted a video of clips from the campaign trail with the lyrics “I won’t back down.” In her video Thursday, Lake said Hobbs, who is currently secretary of state, should have recused herself from any role in the election. The secretary of state creates election procedures and certifies equipment, but her office doesn’t count ballots, a job done by the state’s 15 counties. Lake was in Florida on Thursday to attend the America First Policy Institute (AFPI) dinner at former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club, according to people at the dinner. When he entered the room, he received a standing ovation. AFPI, a Trump-aligned think tank, is holding a conference at Mar-a-Lago this week. Lake announced on social media that Trump, who announced his third bid for the presidency on Wednesday night, has her “full and complete support.” Finn Gomez contributed to this report.
2022 Midterm Elections
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