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Election officials continue to collect thousands of ballots in Arizona before unofficial results are determined in key races. Democratic candidate Katie Hobbs has a narrow lead over Republican former news anchor Cary Lake in the governor’s race, but about 622,455 ballots remain to be counted. The majority of those, about 400,000 ballots, are in Maricopa County, the state’s most populous county that includes Phoenix. Of those ballots, about 290,000 were rejected at the polls on Election Day, according to County Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Gates. These ballots must first be processed before counting, resulting in some delays. “I think we’re going to see the lion’s share of it completed early next week,” Mr. Gates told CNN on Nov. 10. Thanks to a 30-year-old state election law, early voting by mail is by far the most popular way to vote in Arizona. About 90 percent of Arizona voters cast early ballots in the 2020 election, most of them voting by mail. But the review process, including signature verification, “takes a while because we have to get it right,” Mr. Gates told CNN. “We want to make sure every eligible ballot is counted … This is not new for us,” he said. “People who say, ‘What’s going on here?’ They didn’t pay attention.” The county also has about 17,000 ballots that could not be read on Election Day because of a printer error, according to a Nov. 9 joint statement from Mr. Gates and Vice Chairman Clint Hickman. They assured that “all ballots will be counted securely and accurately.” “While the issue affected less than 7 percent of Election Day voters (about 17,000 ballots), we understand that for people who went through it, this was frustrating, inconvenient and not what they envisioned on Election Day,” they wrote. Arizona’s election is among the most closely watched in the nation, including the governor’s race and two other statewide races — secretary and attorney general — with GOP candidates who have boosted unfounded conspiracies related to the election and threatened to overturn the electoral administration in the state, if elected. (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) Former President Donald Trump endorsed Ms. Lake during the primary, while incumbent Republican Governor Doug Ducey and former Vice President Mike Pence endorsed her challenger. Ms. Lake is one of the most outspoken supporters of Mr. Trump’s campaign lies and has vowed to confirm the state’s 2020 presidential election results. Despite thousands of pending results that have not been counted in the state, he said to “put a fork” in the race. He accused election officials of “delaying and dragging their feet and delaying the inevitable,” claiming baselessly that they “don’t want to reveal the truth, which is that we won.” “They are trying to throw cold water on this movement. This movement is on fire and no amount of water is going to put out that fire,” he told far-right activist Charlie Kirk’s show on Thursday. (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) Meanwhile, Ms Hobbs, who is the current Foreign Secretary, urged her supporters and constituents to “stick tight”. “Let’s let our local election officials do their jobs, without fear or interference,” he tweeted Wednesday. A statement from her campaign told her supporters to “be patient and wait for the last vote to be counted.” “I have every confidence that the counties that conducted these elections conducted free and fair elections and their results will be accurate,” he said. “But they will take time.” The state’s election results could also determine the balance of power in the US Senate, with a closely watched race between incumbent Democrat Mark Kelly and far-right venture capitalist Blake Masters.
