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Maricopa’s final election results aren’t missing thousands of votes
If Your Time is short
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More than 540,000 people visited vote centers in Maricopa County, Arizona, on Nov. 8, election officials said.
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About 251,000 of those people cast in-person traditional or provisional ballots that were verified and counted.
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About 290,000 people visited vote centers on Election Day to drop off early ballots. Their ballots were reported as "early ballots" rather than Election Day ballots.
False claims about voting in Arizona’s largest county persist three weeks after the midterm election. One social media narrative claims Maricopa County’s voter turnout numbers "don’t add up." That’s because the numbers shared in the post are missing necessary context.
"Bombshell report: Maricopa County announced that on Election Day over 540,000 voters visited one of the 223 vote anywhere centers in the county despite releasing final official results data claiming only 248,070 people voted," read a tweet attributed to former Florida congressional candidate Chuck Callesto. (A Twitter exchange with Maricopa County suggests the tweet was deleted.)
A screenshot of the tweet was shared to Instagram on Nov. 28 with the caption, "These numbers don’t add up… just sayin’..."
This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)
(Screenshot from Instagram.)
According to the Maricopa County Elections Department, more than 540,000 voters visited a vote center on Election Day to cast a ballot in person or drop off their early ballots.
On Nov. 28, county officials voted unanimously to certify the election results, which resulted from 1.56 million voters casting 2022 midterm ballots. Those certified results included the following breakdown:
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Verified and counted Election Day ballots: 248,070
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Verified and counted Election Day provisional ballots: 2,954
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Verified and counted early ballots: 1,311,734
There’s an important point to know about the early ballots tally: Voters who dropped off early ballots on Election Day weren’t counted alongside in-person voters.
"Voters dropped off approximately 290,000 early ballots on Election Day," said Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer.
About 248,000 people voted in person Nov. 8, Richer said. Those voters went to one of the county’s 223 vote centers where a ballot was printed for them. They completed that ballot and fed it through a tabulator — or placed it in a secure slot marked "No. 3" to be tabulated later.
The more than 540,000 people who visited vote centers on Election Day included in-person voters who cast traditional and provisional ballots — 251,024 people — and about 290,000 people who dropped off early ballots on Election Day.
An Instagram post claimed that "Maricopa County announced that on Election Day over 540,000 voters visited" their 223 vote centers, but the final official results data reported that "only 248,070 people voted."
That data is missing context. More than 540,000 people visited vote centers Nov. 8, but only about 251,000 of them were there to vote in person. The majority were dropping off early ballots.
We rate this claim False.
RELATED: Kari Lake claimed Maricopa County voters were ‘disenfranchised.’ Experts disagree.
RELATED: Arizona’s widespread use of mail-in voting and close margins created longer wait for results
Our Sources
Instagram post, Nov. 28, 2022
Email statement from Stephen Richer, Maricopa County Recorder, Nov. 29, 2022
The Associated Press, Posts falsely claim Arizona county ‘lost’ nearly 300K Election Day votes, Nov. 28, 2022
Maricopa County, Board of Supervisors certifies Maricopa County election results, Nov. 28, 2022
Maricopa County Elections Department, The vote center model, Nov. 27, 2022
Tweet, Nov. 28, 2022
Maricopa County Elections Department, November General Election Canvass, Nov. 28, 2022
NBC 12 News, Maricopa County certifies election results, pushes back against disenfranchisement claims, Nov. 28, 2022
Maricopa County Elections Department on Facebook, video message from Chairman Bill Gates and Recorder Stephen Richer, Nov. 8, 2022
PolitiFact, Kari Lake claimed Maricopa County voters were ‘disenfranchised.’ Experts disagree, Nov. 22, 2022
Maricopa County tweet, Nov. 28, 2022
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Maricopa’s final election results aren’t missing thousands of votes
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