While Donald Trump has officially secured a second term as president, all eyes remain on the Sunbelt state of Arizona, where election officials continue to tabulate ballots days after the Nov. 5 contest.
As of Friday morning, the Arizona secretary of state’s office estimates there are more than 780,000 votes yet to be counted. Preliminary results released thus far show Trump leading Kamala Harris by 5.9 points and Democrat Senate candidate Ruben Gallego leading Republican Kari Lake by 1.7 points.
Control of the state legislature and numerous local races are also yet to be officially determined as of Friday morning, according to The New York Times.
While winning Arizona is no longer necessary for Republicans to take control of the White House and Senate this year, the state’s reputation for taking days to produce final election results shouldn’t be dismissed out of hand.
“The longer you drag it out, the more it raises suspicions that shenanigans are occurring, that fraudulent activity is occurring,” Arizona Free Enterprise Club President Scot Mussi told The Federalist. “The only way to eliminate that is to ensure that we have election results on election night.”
Failure to provide voters a definitive answer on the outcome of any given race within the day of the election undermines voters’ faith in the process. Imagine, for instance, if the outcome of the 2024 presidential race came down to which candidate won Arizona. The ineptitude of officials in Maricopa County — Arizona’s most populous locality — and other
