Judge Rejects Arizona GOP Lawsuit To Extend Voting Hours As Trump Sows Fraud Claims

The Republican National Committee, Kari Lake’s gubernatorial campaign and Blake Masters’ Senate campaign were among the GOP organizations asking Judge Timothy Ryan to let polls remain open until 10 p.m. Mountain time in Maricopa, instead of closing at the usual time of 7 p.m.

Ryan stated in response that he saw no evidence people were being denied their right to vote.

Election officials said Tuesday that tabulator machines used to process ballots were not working at around a quarter of the 223 polling places in Maricopa County, though they were working to get them back online.

Voters were urged to either remain in line until the tabulators started working again, go vote at another location or drop their ballots into a secure slot to be counted later at a central tabulation center in Phoenix.

Trump said on his Truth Social app—without evidence—that the problems were an effort to suppress the Republican vote, urging his supporters, “Don’t get out of line.”

Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Gates (R) called the problem a “technical issue” at a news conference Tuesday, saying, “none of this indicates any fraud.”