Original Tweets. Please forgive the duplicate Tweets. The way that Tweets link causes duplicates when reposting them.
It’s been one month since Election Day.
— Jen Fifield (@JenAFifield) December 8, 2022
We still don’t have all answers from Maricopa County on what caused machines to reject thousands of ballots. County officials have said answers will come later.
Voters didn't want to wait until later. Neither did I.
So I didn’t. A 🧵
For a month now, I’ve interviewed poll workers & observers, election tech experts.
— Jen Fifield (@JenAFifield) December 8, 2022
I examined the technical guides/user manuals for the county’s ballot printers & tabulators
Finally, two people closely familiar with the county’s equipment agreed to talk.
Here’s what I found.
1. Look at the user manual for the printer.
— Jen Fifield (@JenAFifield) December 8, 2022
"For duplex printing: Paper weight 60 to 120 g/m2."
That means up to about 80-pound. Maricopa County's paper was 100-pound. pic.twitter.com/3HazcwctBF
2. How long does a fuser last? The county use printers to print ballot envelopes since 2017 or 2018, then used them for ballots in 2020 primary, general, 2022 primary, then this election. pic.twitter.com/kgr5dCP2VN
— Jen Fifield (@JenAFifield) December 8, 2022
3. These printers were on high-demand, with 3 printers in most vote centers.
— Jen Fifield (@JenAFifield) December 8, 2022
Counties in CA and FL use 4 printers for half the turnout. pic.twitter.com/On8FEh5Ce0
4. The fix that the county implemented on Election Day, changing a setting for ballot envelopes & receipts, didn't make sense to the tech experts I spoke with.
— Jen Fifield (@JenAFifield) December 8, 2022
And not every poll worker I spoke to said it worked. pic.twitter.com/vW2u2gmte9
This is a story about the cascading choices county officials made over years – some of which were brought on by circumstances out of their control.
— Jen Fifield (@JenAFifield) December 8, 2022
COVID, supply chain shortages, retrofitting ballot envelope printers, Sharpiegate.
Everything collided at once.
I keep saying these factors "likely" contributed, because this is the best technical explanation I could get. The county had me send questions in writing, citing "lawsuits."
— Jen Fifield (@JenAFifield) December 8, 2022
The ultimate question is still: What will the county's investigation find?
The precinct tabulators are new as of late 2021 cuz of the Ninjas. Not the printers though.
— Jen Fifield (@JenAFifield) December 9, 2022
Good reporting, @JenAFifield.
— Kari Lake War Room (@KariLakeWarRoom) December 8, 2022
These paper issues prevented untold numbers of voters from voting & led to commingling of counted & uncounted ballots.
This doesn't seem to match with the secretary of state's and Maricopa County's rhetoric that this was a perfectly run election.
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