By Allen West
In the aftermath of the 2022 midterm election cycle, something quite telling and perplexing happened. The progressive socialist left is always the first to decry voter suppression when it serves their purposes. How much did we hear this being echoed in Georgia when they sought to rectify issues from the 2020 election cycle? We even saw Joe Biden fly down to the state of my birth and rant about “Jim Crow 2.0.” The Democrats should be very familiar with Jim Crow since they introduced 1.0. As a matter of fact, the city of my rearing, Atlanta, lost the Major League Baseball All-Star game due to the rhetoric of voter suppression, which never materialized.
However, in Arizona, there was a clear example of voter suppression, and disenfranchisement, in the largest voter population county, Maricopa.
Immediately on Election Day, it became national news that the voting machines in the county were malfunctioning. The ballots were printed out in error and were not capable of being read by the tabulation machines. There was a catastrophic failure in election day voting and the resolution for many voters was incomprehensible. Some voters were told to go to another voting location, but there was no guarantee that their current log-in was deleted. Other voters were told to leave a ballot for a provisional count, which many did not trust. Other voters left and returned to be told that there were still issues, and eventually, not be allowed to vote.
Funny, normally Democrats have no issue with the extension of voter location operating hours. This is a clear case where it should have been agreed upon. It seems that would not have been to the electoral advantage of the Democrats, therefore they did not support it, and a judge did not allow it. Normally, if voters, their voters, are being “disenfranchised,” leftists will scream from the rafters. Something was different about what happened in Maricopa County, Arizona, the largest voter population in the state.
I must ask the obvious question: why was the Arizona Secretary of State, the office responsible for overseeing elections, not forced to recuse herself from overseeing an election where she was running for Governor? You can bet that if this were a Republican SecState, the leftists would have again been screaming from the rafters. And then there is the Supervisor of Elections in Maricopa County who was running to be the next Arizona SecState. Yeah, move along, nothing to see here, just everyday coincidences in the largest voter population county in Arizona.
Why is it, in a State with a Republican-controlled legislature and governor, that all this was allowed to happen?
There is no argument, unconstitutional voter disenfranchisement occurred in Maricopa County, Arizona. This level of incompetence, or possibly purposeful nefarious actions, resulted in the failure of election systems that should have been Beta tested prior to election day. Therefore, honest Arizonans looking to cast their ballot were denied.
What happens now? I do not think it is wrong to say the 2022 midterm election in Maricopa County, Arizona must be redone . . . in golf it is called a Mulligan. If that is not the case, then we have accepted the unconstitutional practice of voter suppression and disenfranchisement in the United States . . . meaning there will be more. What is quite dishonest is that the Secretary of State office in Arizona, remember, Katie Hobbs is still in that position, has not been forthcoming on how many were disenfranchised.
If we want to restore voter confidence, this is not the way for that to happen. If Arizona is serious about restoring election integrity, it would redo the entire midterm election in Maricopa County. If that does not happen, it will only serve to prove that voter suppression and disenfranchisement is a one-way street. This means the progressive socialist left will continue to assert voter ID is a means of suppression. What will happen between now and 2024? Those millions who have been allowed into our country illegally will be voting in our elections, while hard-working, law-abiding, legal American citizens will be told, in selective locations, that the machines are kaput . . . and to go home.
That, my dear friends, is what they call FUBAR! #MaricopaMulligan
Democrats always seem to be on the cutting edge of sinister. One way, their way, always.
The problem is the Democrats have been in power for so long that they feel intitled to be in power. And then of course you have their contempt they hold for anyone who would dare to think other then they do. As has been said half the country is made up of deplorable. So if they cheat in their mind they are saving the nation and the world. Don’t worry put any party in charge for for ove 80 years and you will have the same results.
My mind tells me: It ain’t just Maricopa County elections; our entire country is FUBAR. “Beyond All Recognition.”
But then a little voice sounds: “Don’t forget two things: firstly, about half your fellow citizens actually are just that, and secondly, they have guns at home.”
Maricopa went off as exactly as the Democrats planned it would. When 50% of the polling stations report “malfunctions” of one form or another, that is NOT bad luck or “Whoops, so sorry. Try again in the next election.”. It is what it is, which is a coordinated and well executed plan to achieve the desired result of ensuring the Democrats win. Only an ignorant child would think otherwise, yet we seem to have a lot of adult children of all ages that accept the ludicrous premise of the Democrats and the MSM, that is nothing to see here move on, move on.
The Democrats got away with various forms of voter suppression and vote manipulation in both 2020 and the 2021 Georgia run-offs. They changed the voting methodolgy to match all the dangers documented by the 2005 Carter-Baker repport of things NOT to do and low and behold we got the very fraudulent results one would expect.
The Democrats and the MSM closed ranks and pushed a narrative that everything was fine after both elections in 2020 and 2021, despite the numerous instances documented in several states, including Arizona. Our weak-kneed judiciary in this country, shell shocked from the “summer of love” of BLM and ANTIFA peacefully burning and looting cities all across the United States while the ppolice were ordered to stand down by their Democrat Mayors, rubber stamped the fraud by declaring no one had any standing to present any evidence and refused to even look at any evidence. So with the Democrats having pulled off 2 clean election steals for their side, why on earth wouldn’t they continue to use a proven strategy that works.
Now we are somehow shocked that, once again in crucial federal races, that we’ve experienced amazingly similar results in the state of Arizona and elsewhere. Well duh!!!! What did any of you think would likely happen, when only a few states did anything between 2021 and 2022 to clean up any aspects of the now broken election system that the Democrats managed to successfully put in place as an “emergency response” to Covid-19 has now become “the new normal” for voting nation-wide. If people refuse to push and push hard for a restoration of pre-pandemic voting rules and methodologies (everyone put a very small minority of voters actually all vote on election day in person), then don’t expect any different outcome in future elections. Listening to the voting officials in Arizona, they seem rather proud of the results they achieved. Things went exactly as planned.
As for a do-over election in Arizona, the author can dream on. Never going to happen. The time to address any potential “flaws” (the Democrats consider them a wonderful feature that deliver great results…for them) of how the elections would be done in the state is BEFORE the election. The Arizona State Legislature and the Governor had all of 2021 and half of 2022 to clean up the system and restore the voting process to pre-Covid rules. They didn’t do so, because that would be admitting that the results of the 2020 election were “compromised” by the new mass mail-in balloting system.
Time for a re-do! Same day election, paper ballots and no machines.
FJB … MAGA
seems too me a 12 gauge/mm wrench would fix all those machines that are programmed to fix the count too who ever they want to prevail. might be the tool needed for the recounts also.
I have no sympathy for them or the Michigan legislature as well, both Republican majorities, who allowed this to happen again. It is really easy to fix PRIOR to an election and neither state party did it. Clowns. And at least in Michigan, no longer a majority.
Allen as usual you are right on. Wish you had taken Abbott’s job though. Whenever we hear that they are still counting votes days later, it seems that the skies must open up and deliver more democrat votes every time.
We need to have another election without machines, on paper ballots, and same day!
Spot on, Colonel! It’s FUBAR alright!!!
This is so typical of the liberals. Maricopa county should have another vote – paper ballots only – one day only
I agree with Karen. This was nefarious for sure. Just too coincidental. Happened in other areas of the country too. R’s vote on election day. D’s love to vote early or by mail in ballot. Screw up the machines and affect thousands of votes on election day, and the D’s some how elect a Gov who was 10 pts behind in the polls. It’s tiring to live in this country.
This nation is being taken over by the globalists and elitists and unless their lying, cheating, and stealing is stopped this nation is doomed.
Maricopa should definitely have a do-over. I live in Pinal County and My husband and myself had to fill out a provisional ballot at our voting center. We showed the poll worker our voter ID and AZ driver’s license. They looked in their computer and said they couldn’t find us. I can’t imagine how many people were disenfranchised in Maricopa. I personally know people who had to put their ballot in the machine numerous times before it was validated. Pure garbage.
I live in Maricopa County and am upset that no one challenged the secretary of state and asked her to recluse herself from overseeing the elections. As for the machines someone’s dirty hands were in the batter. Truly obvious. To the person who can only make profane responses it’s obvious you have no knowledge of what occurred and limited understanding of right and wrong actions. Perhaps if you did your research you would have different responses.
To rerun 2020
Oh my gosh! You nailed it. And I got to see it all go down. The SOS does not follow the State Legislature voting rules! She was asked by Kari Lake to recuse herself. She hid in the basement as she ran for Governor. So I’m supposed to believe that a basement dweller won the AZ Governor’s race! Well, I don’t believe it. AG has challenged this election. Not sure why the Governor is so silent. Voter suppression is alive and well in Arizona thanks to the Chairman of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors and the SOS (who thinks she is now Governor)!
I agree with others. Let me make this simple. Technology today can place a destructive missile into your garage from 2000 miles away, yet we can’t get a voting machine, printer, whatever at a polling location to operate correctly. How can the outcome of this election be nothing more than cheating, incompetence and/or both?
A new election day for Arizona needs to be mandated and the election date set IMMEDIATELY. Paper ballots ONLY, and hand counting on the same day and we know who wins (I think the time is 10:00 p.m. ?) that evening, just like France. No mail in Ballots with the exception of confirmed illness and out-of-country military. The correction of November 08, 2022 election day charades in Arizona needs to be the tip of the spear for our beloved USA on election day 2024. It needs to be in other states, as well. God bless Ms. Lake and her family. Please stay with it Kari. The whole conservative nation is behind you. FYI: just spoke with a close friend from college in Mississippi. That’s the way they do it in his locale. Paper ballots with circles to be filled in for their selected candidate, proposal, etc. No machines. It works just fine.
It is a shame that the woman who was running for Governor of our state was allowed to keep that duty while she was the current Secy of State whose office is responsible for our elections. She was asked by Kari Lake who was her opposition, early in the process and again right before the election to recuse herself. Hobbs refused. When my daughter arrived at the poll nearest her shortly after 6AM on election day, the lines were already out the door because the tabulating machines were not working!! This was in a predominately Reublican neighborhood. By late morning, over 30% of the machines mainly in REPUBLICAN strongholds were not working. So the votes were put into boxes and transported to a “central counting facility” to be counted. Now, what could possibly go wrong with that? To this day there are still 2 counties who have not certified their votes. So all of you who are criticizing Arizonans who think cheating was involved, take a deep breath and think of how you would feel it this were YOUR state. Since Katie Hobbs became Secy of State, all of the 3 elections held under her rule were absolute disasters. And now she is going to be our governor. I shudder to think what she is going to mess up in the next 4 years!
Good for AMAC for bringing all this criminal behavior to light. It is deplorable.
Whether there was nefarious activity or not, the perception is that the vote counting machines were not ready for prime time or, worse, they worked as intended. But Maricopa Conty is not alone. We have turned election day into election month or longer, given the inability to declare some winners. Democrats have decided they need to compensate for lazy citizens who can’t vote on a given day, can’t produce an ID or are too inept to figure out where they are supposed to vote. We have weeks of early voting and weeks of counting votes, all of which leaves an impression that the system is rigged. Then in some places we have ranked choice voting, where we vote for our first choice, second choice, etc. When there is no winner in the first round of voting, then it is theoretically possible for everyone’s second choice to win. I have talked to voters in NYC who don’t really understand how the second round of counting votes works. It has been over 50 years since we put men on the moon and brought them home, but we can’t declare winners in some elections for days after election day. This is madness. Worse, it is destructive.
The SCOTUS should have had the guts to have this conversation following the 2020 debacle! Had they done this, it’s highly probable DJT would still be POTUS!
We voters must DEMAND a redo! This is un American what happened in Maricopa County. I live in Maricopa County,
NEVER, EVER, TRUST A liberal AND THE FBI, WHICH IS NOW KNOWN AS THE RUSSIAN KGB
A party that cheats every election, as the Democrats have, is no longer fit to participate in the civic life of America. The DNC needs to be investigated under the RICO Act as a political organized crime syndicate, and banned from all further elections upon conviction.
If Hobbs cannot even run an election, she is not qualified to run the state.
Incompetence coupled with technology is an election nightmare.
If you really believe that computers never have operational problems, then you have worked in a lot different jobs than I have. And sometimes, power outage would impact computers for hours at home and at work.
This was not incompetent behavior but nefarious and fraud.
Hobbs was in a position to stack the deck and probably did.
As a CPA we were not allowed to even have an appearance of bias and even had to disclose if any family member had any stock or connection to a company before we were allowed to be on the engagement.
A lot of these requirements were promulgated by the same officials and law makers who break them!
Just as Congress is exempt from Ombama care and the COVID mandates, they are exempt from HONESTY!
When will the rest of the country and its leadership recognize that the Lefties have perfected the art of election fixing and until the common, ordinary voters and the leaders on the Right wake up, it will continue unabated. Many of us are losing faith in our government and that’s just plain sad. How on earth can a person who is in a contested race for the U.S. Senate, be the supervisor of the vote count in the same race? Whatever happened to the concept of integrity? This doesn’t pass the sniff test, not even close.
“Why is it, in a State with a Republican-controlled legislature and governor, that all this was allowed to happen?”
ANSWER: Because Republican politicians for the most part fon’t have the balls to stop the cheating. As always the Democrats get away with whatever they want to do. I need to invent a miracle cream to grow nads and sell it to republicans at exorbitant prices.
I am an Independent voter in Prescott Valley, Arizona.
I was told that our votes had to go to Phoenix in order to be counted. I don’t know if this was true or not. Does anyone out there know?
Also I agree that Katie Hobbs should have recused herself and let her second in command steer the election. Also I remember that Hobbs said she didn’t have to debate Kari Lake. At the time I thought well maybe she really can’t be forced to debate, thinking that it might be some kind of debate rule of choice. Now I’m not so sure, did she know something, we the voters, didn’t?
There was cheating in the 2020 election and there was cheating in the 2022 election. The problem with 2022 is that no judge would listen to complaints in 2020 and none will 2022 either. So no one is complaining in 2022. Why? What lawyer wants to risk his reputation, fortune and freedom these days?
“Purposeful nefarious action” it was! No one in their right mind believes Hobbs really won. Lake was ahead 11 pts. going into Election Day. The Dems saw that and moved in. They have cheating down to a science, esp the kind where it cannot be traced back to them. Hobbs: 1. refused to recuse herself from the job of overseeing the count as SOS even tho it is totally unethical to be involved as both a candidate and SOS. 2. Hobbs refused to debate Lake — over-challenged and overshadowed as she was by Lake’s personality and smarts. 3. Hobbs showed up to work only 19 days in the past several months. 4. Hobbs campaigned “from the basement” as good Democrats do thee days; voters had little idea what she stood for aside from her liberal abortion stance nor what she pledged to do as Governor (I don’t think she even knows) while Lake was very clear about what she’d do and what her values are. So no, I very much doubt Hobbs won, even by few votes…and if this isn’t fixed with a new vote, AZ is as lost as California and so goes the nation.
The Left is despicable and evil. I first detected their abject intellectual dishonesty since Obama in 2008, and it’s only gotten worse. Today, they have the gall to sexualize our kids into homosexuals unbeknownst to their parents; I liken this to a different shade of abduction/kidnapping where parents might not realize they’ve lost their children as they know them until it’s too late. The Left is an anathema that needs to be criminalized in more ways than one.
They allowed it to happen in Harris County here in Texas. Supposing they are looking in to it. The machines were not working, they opened the polls late and paper was not supplied to the Republican polls. They had to turn people away. And some voted twice, so they counted the vote twice. They need to redo the vote here. The same corrupt democrats got in and they are calling us election deniers, that is an ugly word for cheating. Please put this out in the news, so the corrupt people will get out of there.
” …failure of election systems that should have been Beta tested prior to election day.”
It’s reported that they were, in fact, tested the night before Election Day, and were found to be in good working order. Which makes their failure, when it counted, on Election Day all the more suspicious.
Would like to be able to read the comments without Michael S responding to the comments with the same droning response. You sound robotic, if you want to converse/debate expand your horizons.
Isn’t it about time you people rise above these personal vindictive attacks and place your discussions on a more civil level?
Absolutely need a do over in the whole country.
The republicans for a long time had great ideas and those ideas won elections and brought us the greatest president ever, Ronald Reagan. The republicans have now changed into a party of extremist ideas and revenge. These ideas are unpopular with the American people so they try to cheat their way into office by falsely claiming voter fraud. What a shame. I now split my ticket.
Thought for the day: What if every state had elections that one person must win +50% of votes or else it goes to rerun like the Senate race in Georgia. The results would not be known for another 4-6 weeks. In this case, Georgia would really be in the Republican sights if the Senate was not sitting at 50-49 the other way at the current time.
It will be interesting to see what happens between Musk & Trump over Twitter account. Sounds like one Billionaire needs the other & maybe vice versa. Musk did not go to school of hard knocks & take a course on how to treat employees so far in Twitter saga..