Maricopa County Supervisor Bill Gates took a swipe at Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake‘s “offensive” comments after she said votes should be counted faster.
Gates was speaking Friday amid outrage over the pace at which Arizona was counting its midterm election ballots, which were held on Tuesday.
“Quite frankly it’s offensive for Kari Lake to say that these people behind me are slow rolling this when they’re working 14 to 18 hours. So I really hope this is the end of that now. We can be patient and respect the results when they come out,” he said, according to the Daily Caller.
MARICOPA COUNTY OFFICIALS SAY HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF ARIZONA VOTES REMAIN UNCOUNTED
Lake, who trails Hobbs by about 30,000 votes from the latest count, according to the Associated Press, has been vocal about her criticism of the slow counting process in Arizona, pledging in an appearance on Newsmax to make streamlining the electoral process a top priority if she gets elected.
“We will, mark my words, starting on day one, begin to reform our elections so that they’re fair, honest, and transparent,” Lake said.
“The people of Arizona are sick and tired of elections being run like we’re in some banana republic, and we won’t have it anymore,” she added. “We’re going to win this. Everybody in this state knows we’re going to win it. I was running against a basement candidate who didn’t even campaign, didn’t debate, and the people didn’t vote for her. There was zero excitement.”
In a statement obtained by the Washington Examiner, the Republican National Committee condemned the slow vote counting as well and called for changes in the process.
“This election has exposed deep flaws in Maricopa County’s election administration. Arizona deserves better — transparency, certainty, efficiency — and most importantly, an accurate and prompt announcement of election results that can be accepted by all voters,” spokeswoman Harmeet Dhillon said, speaking on behalf of the RNC and Republican Party of Arizona.
“The RNC and the Republican Party of Arizona demand that around-the-clock shifts of ballot processing be pressed into service until all votes have been counted, accompanied by complete transparency and regular, accurate public updates. We will not hesitate to take legal action if necessary to protect Arizona voters’ right to have their ballots counted,” she concluded.
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Gates announced on Thursday that there are still over 290,000 early ballots in Maricopa County and over 50,000 early ballots in Clark County that still need to be counted.
