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Photos spark speculation over late-night work at elections center
Photos circulating on social media are raising questions about elections staff working late at the Maricopa County's tabulation center. FOX 10's Jacob Luthi has more on the county's response.
PHOENIX - Photos showing employees inside Maricopa County’s election tabulation center late Wednesday night prompted questions on social media over the weekend.
What they're saying:
County Supervisor Mark Stewart says the employees were conducting election-related work.
"When things like this pop up, people want answers, and it’s my job to go get those answers," Stewart said.
What we know:
The photos, posted by the Maricopa County Elections Department, show people inside the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center, known as MCTEC, with a time stamp around 10:40 p.m. on Oct. 7.
Stewart said he spoke with the county manager, who confirmed the individuals were Elections Department employees following procedures requiring two people to badge in together.
According to Stewart, the employee was updating software related to election operations ahead of the long weekend. He said testing was scheduled for this week and the employee wanted to complete the work beforehand.
Sparking Speculation:
"Obviously, optics on this are horrendous," Stewart said. "The microscope is on Maricopa County for perfect elections."
Stewart said there have also been a lot of questions surrounding one of the employees using a USB drive.
"The tabulators in that room are air-gapped, which means that they’re not connected to the internet, and so the only way that they could update that software is with a thumb drive, which I know there’s some questions from some folks about that, so that’s why he was in there, it was to update some software," Stewart said.
Dig deeper:
In a statement, the Elections Department said the photos were sent to the department by individuals questioning the legitimacy of the employees’ presence.
"These photos may be used on social media to imply wrongdoing. This is not the case," the department said.
What's next:
Stewart said his office will continue looking into the matter. He added that the election's director has invited representatives of all political parties to observe the process.
"It comes down to transparency," Stewart said. "It’s important for the county to share as much information as possible, give folks as much access to how the sausage is made to be proverbial here,"
"This is our Super Bowl this fall," Stewart said, "I feel like we are up to the task. I feel the recorders team is doing a great job, I know our elections team is doing a great job, and politics aside, I feel like we’re going to be able to execute."
How You Can Get Involved:
Stewart said his office is holding a virtual town hall on Oct. 21 to answer election-related questions from the public.
The Source: Information in this report was gathered from Mark Stewart, District 1 supervisor for Maricopa County; and the Maricopa County Elections Department.