Issues in Apache County, Arizona

"The worst we’ve ever seen": Issues in Apache County, Arizona, preventing voters from casting ballots

From CNN’s Danya Gainor

Some voters in Apache County, Arizona, were turned away before they could cast ballots on Election Day due to faulty machines, with voting issues “the worst we’ve ever seen,” Katherine Belzowski, assistant attorney general at the Navajo Nation Department of Justice, told CNN.

The faulty machines, which are printing only propositions and not the candidates, on the ballots, are forcing poll workers to use express voting machines, or EVMs, Belzowski said. Each polling location in the county has only one EVM, and the machines are prone to freezing.

It is unclear what is causing the technical difficulties, but officials say voting issues are not new to Apache County.

“This isn’t the first time Apache County has had voting issues on Election Day, but this is the worst we’ve ever seen it,” Belzowski said. The Navajo Nation Department of Justice is looking into potential legal action to “at the very least” keep polling locations open late Tuesday.

A Democratic poll watcher in the county told CNN the voting difficulties are a “disgrace.”

Some voters in Apache County are encountering wait times of over two hours because of the difficulties, and locations are running out of backup provisional ballots.

“This is a very poor part of this country, and people can’t miss work like they can elsewhere,” the poll watcher said.

Some voters were initially turned away but legal groups, including the Navajo DOJ, quickly advised against this and encouraged the use of EVMs and provisional ballots, Belzowski said.

Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes couldn’t confirm the reports out of Apache County during a Tuesday morning news conference, but said, “If, in fact, you do have a circumstance as a voter at a polling location in Arizona, don’t go away and don’t let anybody outside of that space turn you away.”