Arizona county backs hand count of ballots in U.S. midterm elections

LOS ANGELES, Oct 25 (Reuters) – A Republican-controlled county within the presidential battleground state of Arizona voted handy depend ballots in subsequent month’s midterm congressional elections, a tallying technique that has been known as for by Republicans who declare voting machines are unreliable.

Regardless of warnings by election specialists that hand counting is much less dependable, might delay outcomes and is costlier than machine tallies, the Cochise County Board of Supervisors in rural southeastern Arizona voted 2-1 on Monday to depend ballots in November’s elections by hand.

The county may even depend ballots by machine, however specialists warned {that a} hand depend might delay outcomes of the Nov. 8 election and raises the prospect of two completely different vote totals, one thing they are saying might additional undermine religion within the U.S. election system.

Backers of Republican former President Donald Trump’s false declare that the 2020 election was stolen from him have been pushing for hand counts, incorrectly claiming that voting machines had been manipulated to permit Democrat Joe Biden to narrowly win Arizona and different swing states.

The Republican candidates for governor, secretary of state and legal professional normal in Arizona this 12 months all again Trump’s election conspiracy theories and are in favor of hand counts.

The 2 Republicans on the three-member County Board of Supervisors in Cochise County voted in favor of the hand depend transfer, whereas the Democratic chairwoman voted towards the measure.

Reporting by Tim Reid; enhancing by Ross Colvin and Jonathan Oatis

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