On Monday, the Arizona Secretary of State apologized to voters who waited for hours to cast ballots during last week’s presidential preference election. Michele Reagan says her office is reviewing the election in Maricopa County, though she refused to take blame for the long voting lines. Arizona Public Radio’s Aaron Granillo reports.
Reagan said during Monday's news conference she never questioned the reduced number of polling sites across Maricopa County. Reagan said, in hindsight, she wish she had.
“And I take responsibility for the fact that election officials did not pull off the election that voters deserve,” said Reagan.
Reagan says her office did review the county’s plan to have only 60 polling locations, down from about 200 the previous election. But, Reagan claims her office has no legal right to tell any county how many polling sites they should have.
“I certainly wish that we had said you should consider 90, maybe you should consider 100," said Reagan. "But, the counties have no obligation to even consider what the Secretary of State offers.”
Reagan says she would welcome a federal investigation into the state’s election. In the meantime, she’s taking several actions to address the problems, including setting up a website for voter feedback, and hosting a series of public meetings across Maricopa County.
