The Maricopa County counting center resembles a fortress. In 2020, armed demonstrators protested for several nights in front of the electoral center, in the heart of Phoenix, during the counting of ballots.
Voting day in the United States. The 160 million American registrants are called upon to nominate the 47th President of the United States. A particularly undecided vote between Democratic candidate Kamala Harris or Donald Trump, for the Republicans. Arizona hopes not to relive the events of 2020.
The Democrats won in this historically Republican state by the smallest margin with barely 11,000 votes. Groups of Republican activists, unhappy with the result, stormed the counting center in Maricopa County, in the heart of Phoenix, which has the largest number of voters in Arizona.
For the 2024 election, three perimeters of barriers installed around the counting center. The interview with Josh, the office president's assistant, takes place outside in the parking lot. “There were protests, groups went to the door and wanted to force entryJosh remembers. Since then we have installed these gates to protect voters and those who work, if things get out of hand.”
After the protests in 2020, there were also death threats against the assessors in 2022 for the mid-term elections. Josh refuses to be intimidated this year: “We don't listen to rumors. We work and ensure that the counting is done methodically and safely.”
Pressure messages from ultraconservative groups have forced the Maricopa County communications department to learn how to combat fake news, particularly that of the evangelical movement Turning Point, whose leader Taylor knows well.
“He is one of the people who criticized our working methodshe explains, and that's why we have redoubled our efforts so that this false information is not the only one that is delivered to people and so that our sources are widely available.”
One of Maricopa County's chief assessors, Bill Gates, a namesake of the famous ex-Microsoft boss, observes that these precautions do not prevent the wildest theories from circulating. “You hear that votes can be changed, and that machines can be manipulated by German servers, Italian satellites or Chinese planesexplains the assessor. You hear all kinds of things as the machines have been strengthened. First, they are not connected to the internet. They are in cages impervious to electromagnetic waves.”
In Arizona, voters now have access to cameras that film the ballot boxes 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The ballots are stored in rooms equipped to empty themselves of oxygen in the event of a threat of fire. The play of transparency and security against the incessant questioning of the democratic process.
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