A new study indicates that in the general election in 2022 in Arizona, either election officials tallied more ballots than the number of registered voters, or Arizona counties failed to maintain accurate records of who cast a ballot.
The study, conducted by the think tank The America First Policies Institute (AFPI), conducted an analysis counting the total number of ballots in the 2022 Arizona general election compared to the number of registered voters.
The study details that they discovered a “potential 8,241 vote discrepancy” between the total number of registered voters and the total number of ballots counted in the 2022 general election.
According to the study introduction, AFPI conducted the analysis following reports from several state officials regarding vote discrepancies. As the races for Arizona governor and attorney general were extremely close with a mere 280 votes dividing the Democrat and Republican attorney general candidates AFPI said that any discrepancies could have played a role in the election outcome.
The analysis focused only on data from the four most populous Arizona counties Maricopa, Pima, Pinal, and Yavapai as well as on smaller populations in tribal communities, like Apache and Coconino.
AFPI asked county election officials for their official tabulations of the total ballots counted, including absentee, mail-in, and in-person in the 2022 election.
They noted that they made no effort to identify whether any differences were purposeful or unintentional. It was also irrelevant how or for whom people cast their ballots. They only wanted to know if the number of voters and the number of votes cast were equal.
The data, according to AFPI, indicates possible inconsistencies where election officials counted more ballots than the number of registered voters, and vice versa.
“Analysis showed some precincts where there were more ballots being counted than there were registered voters listed as casting ballots and some precincts where the reverse occurred. Across these counties, 6,057 more ballots were recorded as cast than there were registered voters listed as voting. In precincts where the reverse was true, 2,184 more registered voters were listed as voting than ballots shown as counted. That results in an 8,241-vote discrepancy, or 0.36 percent of the total ballots counted. Some may say this is just a small discrepancy, but 0.36 percent amounts to 29.4 times the 280-vote difference in the Arizona attorney general race,” AFPI said.
AFPI notes that there are three possible explanations for the discrepancies. Some voters will have their identity, including name and address hidden due to safety concerns and may need to conceal their personal information due to threats or other concerns. If a voter checks in on Election Day but walks out without putting their ballot in the ballot box records will list that they voted but there will not be a ballot to tabulate. Finally, the data received on who voted in the 2022 general election may not be accurate as many counties immediately start updating their list of voters after the election and save over their original files.
According to AFPI, this data enumerates that either there were more voters than registered voters who voted in the Arizona 2022 election or the counties have failed to keep accurate records of who voted in the election.
“A technologically advanced and democratic society in the digital age should never face discrepancies in its election results or be in situations where more votes are counted than voters; votes counted should always equal the number of registered voters who voted,” AFPI said.
According to AFPI, Arizona should follow Ohio’s example for modernizing its election laws through the landmark DATA Act, Senate Bill 71, which aims to modernize and clarify the way Ohio defines and archives election records.
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Hannah Poling is a lead reporter at The Ohio Star, The Star News Network, and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Hannah on Twitter @HannahPoling1. Email tips to [email protected]
Photo “Election” by Sora Shimazaki.
this is exactly why you should have to vote in the precinct you live in, i believe that rule changed just before the 2020 election, voting is a right and privilege not a convienence…….
I’ll bet that most of the overage were Democrat voters. Hobbs is illegitimate and Lakde should be governor. Hobbs is a disaster already, like her mentor JB.