Image Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images 
Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake (R) excoriated Maricopa County leadership over reports of vote tabulation machines breaking down.
“I don’t like the embarrassment of every election having problems. I hope you don’t either,” she told reporters at a press conference Tuesday afternoon.
“Within minutes of the polls opening up, I started getting people calling, voters in tears, calling my personal number, saying ‘What’s going on? The tabulators aren’t working. They told me to put my my ballot into a box and they would drive it downtown to county,’” Lake said. “This is not normal stuff. We don’t have to have elections run this way.”
I spoke to the press about the latest Arizona election debacle after voting today in downtown Phoenix.
Watch and do me a favor.
Be patient. Stay in line.
Vote. pic.twitter.com/2tpG0s0fYL
— Kari Lake (@KariLake) November 8, 2022
“They got to fix this problem. This is incompetency,” she added. “I hope it’s not malice.”
That line prompted NBC News’ Vaughn Hilliard to lash out: “To be clear, the lines are not acceptable. At the same time, there is no evidence to suggest this is not going to be an accurate election.”
Lake set Hilliard straight, replying, “I haven’t suggested that. We’re going to see what happens.”
Earlier in the day, reports began emerging of Maricopa County voting machines breaking down in different precincts.
“Nothing’s working” pic.twitter.com/KfQBgZv5xq
— Hold the Line Poso
(@JackPosobiec) November 8, 2022
Long lines in Anthem, Arizona with Poll Workers explaining that the @maricopacounty machines are not working.
Do not get out of line! pic.twitter.com/lInh8KnTz3
— Tyler Bowyer
BREAKING: Now issues reported with machines in Wickenburg, AZ, northwest Maricopa.
Worker tells the voter to stop filming pic.twitter.com/ACFiivw3vn
— Hold the Line Poso
Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Gates and Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer addressed the issue later in the afternoon in a video, claiming without explanation that about 20% of the votes were not being tabulated.
Here is a message from Chairman Bill Gates and Recorder Stephen Richer with an update for @maricopacounty voters on Elections Day. pic.twitter.com/OkQczCklGb
— Maricopa County Elections Department (@MaricopaVote) November 8, 2022
CNN pundits were insisting that voters were “not being disenfranchised” by the extended delays related to the broken machines.
CNN on tabulation issues in Maricopa County, Arizona: "This is a technical glitch. […] Teams are taking those problem ballots to the county's election center where they will be counted. […] No one is being disenfranchised. All those votes, all those ballots will be counted." pic.twitter.com/49HXV18C2A
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) November 8, 2022
County officials later released a statement claiming the voting machine issues had been fixed after adjusting the “printer settings.”
Maricopa County has identified the solution for the tabulation issues at about 60 Vote Centers. This solution has worked at 17 locations, and technicians deployed throughout the county are working to resolve this issue at the remaining locations. pic.twitter.com/Og7bXf0CsV
— Maricopa County Elections Department (@MaricopaVote) November 8, 2022
BREAKING: Maricopa County says that they have “identified the solution” for tabulator issues.
“County technicians have changed the printer settings, which seems to have resolved this issue.” pic.twitter.com/QvA3UCrEqQ
— Cameron Arcand (@cameron_arcand) November 8, 2022
Former President Trump delivered a message to Arizonans not to leave the voting lines due the delays.
“I know you don’t want to be there as long as they’re going to try and force you,” Trump said. “They want to delay you out of voting and you cannot let them delay you out of voting.”
ARIZONA, Maricopa County: Former President Trump warns voters to stay in line.
“There’s a lot of bad things going on. Stay in line. Do not leave.” pic.twitter.com/c1UQLoItfP
— Katie Daviscourt
“So, to the people of Arizona in particular because that’s the one that’s come up right now, stay online don’t leave. Already, a lot of people have left and it’s very, very unfair what’s going on. Maricopa County, don’t leave. Stay there.”
This comes amid reports that voting machines were also experiencing problems in New Jersey on Tuesday.
A Pennsylvania county also reportedly ran out of paper, extending the polling deadline to 10PM EST.
Luzerne County Pennsylvania had two years to prepare for this election and they ran out of paper before noon.
Unbelievable.
— Brigitte Gabriel (@ACTBrigitte) November 8, 2022