SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Trump supporters gather to protest the election results at the Maricopa County Elections Department office on November 4, 2020 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo: Courtney Pedroza/Getty Images)
Arizona Officials Vow to 'Continue Our Job' Counting Votes as Trump Backers--Some Armed With AR-15s--Gather at Local Election Building
"All of us are committed to a fair and efficient count of all votes," Maricopa County officials said.
Nov 04, 2020
Undeterred by a crowd of Trump supporters--some of whom were armed--that gathered outside of the Maricopa County, Arizona election office late Wednesday to protest alleged "fraud" in the vote-counting process, county officials vowed to "continue our job" of tallying ballots in the battleground state that both Fox News and the Associated Press have called for Democratic candidate Joe Biden.
"Staff at the Maricopa County Elections Department will continue our job, which is to administer elections in the second largest voting jurisdiction in the county," the department tweeted early Thursday morning amid reports that officials in the county building were forming an "exit plan" due to safety concerns caused by assault rifle-wielding Trump supporters baselessly alleging election theft by the Democratic Party.
"We will release results again tonight as planned," the department added. "We thank the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office for doing their job, so we can do ours."
Early Thursday, the county released a newly counted batch of more than 70,000 votes that favored Trump by a margin of 59% to 41%, leaving Biden with a lead of more than 68,000 votes in a state Trump won in 2016.
The fresh results came as Trump supporters, emboldened by the president's constant attacks on the legitimacy of the vote-counting process in states nationwide, rallied outside the Maricopa County election office chanting, "Stop the Steal!"--a slogan that has been embraced and amplified by Trump backers on social media.
Angry over the network's decision to call Arizona for Biden on Election Night, the Trump supporters also chanted, "Fox News sucks!"
The New York Times reported Wednesday that "Trump and his advisers erupted" after Fox News called Arizona for Biden, fearing the move would further undermine the president's false narrative that he won the election outright.
"Jason Miller, Mr. Trump's political adviser, disputed the accuracy of the call on Twitter and frantically called Fox News, asking the network to retract it. He was unsuccessful," the Times reported. "Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law and senior adviser, was also in touch with Rupert Murdoch, the Fox News owner, as the night wore on. And on Wednesday morning, Mr. Trump's campaign manager, Bill Stepien, insisted the president would win Arizona by 30,000 votes."
In a statement released late Wednesday, a pair of Maricopa County election officials--one Democrat and one Republican--raised concern over "the misinformation spreading about the integrity of our elections" and said that "everyone should want all the votes to be counted, whether they were mailed or cast in person."
"An accurate vote takes time. It's possible the results you see now may change after all the votes are counted. This is evidence of democracy, not fraud," the statement continued. "We would like to thank the hundreds of volunteers, poll workers, and staff for being a part of an incredible elections team. All of us are committed to a fair and efficient count of all votes."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Undeterred by a crowd of Trump supporters--some of whom were armed--that gathered outside of the Maricopa County, Arizona election office late Wednesday to protest alleged "fraud" in the vote-counting process, county officials vowed to "continue our job" of tallying ballots in the battleground state that both Fox News and the Associated Press have called for Democratic candidate Joe Biden.
"Staff at the Maricopa County Elections Department will continue our job, which is to administer elections in the second largest voting jurisdiction in the county," the department tweeted early Thursday morning amid reports that officials in the county building were forming an "exit plan" due to safety concerns caused by assault rifle-wielding Trump supporters baselessly alleging election theft by the Democratic Party.
"We will release results again tonight as planned," the department added. "We thank the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office for doing their job, so we can do ours."
Early Thursday, the county released a newly counted batch of more than 70,000 votes that favored Trump by a margin of 59% to 41%, leaving Biden with a lead of more than 68,000 votes in a state Trump won in 2016.
The fresh results came as Trump supporters, emboldened by the president's constant attacks on the legitimacy of the vote-counting process in states nationwide, rallied outside the Maricopa County election office chanting, "Stop the Steal!"--a slogan that has been embraced and amplified by Trump backers on social media.
Angry over the network's decision to call Arizona for Biden on Election Night, the Trump supporters also chanted, "Fox News sucks!"
The New York Times reported Wednesday that "Trump and his advisers erupted" after Fox News called Arizona for Biden, fearing the move would further undermine the president's false narrative that he won the election outright.
"Jason Miller, Mr. Trump's political adviser, disputed the accuracy of the call on Twitter and frantically called Fox News, asking the network to retract it. He was unsuccessful," the Times reported. "Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law and senior adviser, was also in touch with Rupert Murdoch, the Fox News owner, as the night wore on. And on Wednesday morning, Mr. Trump's campaign manager, Bill Stepien, insisted the president would win Arizona by 30,000 votes."
In a statement released late Wednesday, a pair of Maricopa County election officials--one Democrat and one Republican--raised concern over "the misinformation spreading about the integrity of our elections" and said that "everyone should want all the votes to be counted, whether they were mailed or cast in person."
"An accurate vote takes time. It's possible the results you see now may change after all the votes are counted. This is evidence of democracy, not fraud," the statement continued. "We would like to thank the hundreds of volunteers, poll workers, and staff for being a part of an incredible elections team. All of us are committed to a fair and efficient count of all votes."
From Your Site Articles
Undeterred by a crowd of Trump supporters--some of whom were armed--that gathered outside of the Maricopa County, Arizona election office late Wednesday to protest alleged "fraud" in the vote-counting process, county officials vowed to "continue our job" of tallying ballots in the battleground state that both Fox News and the Associated Press have called for Democratic candidate Joe Biden.
"Staff at the Maricopa County Elections Department will continue our job, which is to administer elections in the second largest voting jurisdiction in the county," the department tweeted early Thursday morning amid reports that officials in the county building were forming an "exit plan" due to safety concerns caused by assault rifle-wielding Trump supporters baselessly alleging election theft by the Democratic Party.
"We will release results again tonight as planned," the department added. "We thank the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office for doing their job, so we can do ours."
Early Thursday, the county released a newly counted batch of more than 70,000 votes that favored Trump by a margin of 59% to 41%, leaving Biden with a lead of more than 68,000 votes in a state Trump won in 2016.
The fresh results came as Trump supporters, emboldened by the president's constant attacks on the legitimacy of the vote-counting process in states nationwide, rallied outside the Maricopa County election office chanting, "Stop the Steal!"--a slogan that has been embraced and amplified by Trump backers on social media.
Angry over the network's decision to call Arizona for Biden on Election Night, the Trump supporters also chanted, "Fox News sucks!"
The New York Times reported Wednesday that "Trump and his advisers erupted" after Fox News called Arizona for Biden, fearing the move would further undermine the president's false narrative that he won the election outright.
"Jason Miller, Mr. Trump's political adviser, disputed the accuracy of the call on Twitter and frantically called Fox News, asking the network to retract it. He was unsuccessful," the Times reported. "Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law and senior adviser, was also in touch with Rupert Murdoch, the Fox News owner, as the night wore on. And on Wednesday morning, Mr. Trump's campaign manager, Bill Stepien, insisted the president would win Arizona by 30,000 votes."
In a statement released late Wednesday, a pair of Maricopa County election officials--one Democrat and one Republican--raised concern over "the misinformation spreading about the integrity of our elections" and said that "everyone should want all the votes to be counted, whether they were mailed or cast in person."
"An accurate vote takes time. It's possible the results you see now may change after all the votes are counted. This is evidence of democracy, not fraud," the statement continued. "We would like to thank the hundreds of volunteers, poll workers, and staff for being a part of an incredible elections team. All of us are committed to a fair and efficient count of all votes."
From Your Site Articles
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.