Maricopa County, Arizona election officials say solution found to voting machine problems

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Officials in Maricopa County, Arizona say they have found a solution after roughly 20% of their polling sites were experiencing "issues" with tabulation machines just hours after Election Day polls opened. 

The county’s election department said it had 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," the Maricopa County Elections Department tweeted Tuesday afternoon. 

The county said technicians have changed the printer settings and the issue appears to have been resolved. 

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"It appears some of the printers were not producing dark enough timing marks on ballots," the county tweeted. 

Chairman to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Bill Gates told Fox News earlier Tuesday that the county had experienced "hiccups" with about 20% of the county’s tabulators. 

Gates said an issue has arisen when people attempt to run their ballots through the tabulator and are unable to successfully do so as their ballots are being spit back out at them.

FILE: A voter casts their ballot at a secure ballot drop box at the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center in Phoenix, Nov. 1, 2022. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)

He noted that Arizona voters do not need to worry whether their ballots will be counted and said there is a "redundancy in place" that allows voters to place their ballots in a secure box until they can be counted later.

"This will function much like early voting functions," Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer said, noting that once it’s been signature verified it will be sent to central tabulators. "This is actually what the majority of Arizona counties do on Election Day."

Gates said there are 223 voting centers across the county and noted if one location has longer lines or tabulation machine issues, voters can always select another location to cast their vote. 

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"No one wins Arizona without Maricopa County," Fox News Senior Correspondent Alicia Acuna said.

Polls close in Maricopa County at 7 p.m.

Fox News’ Caitlin McFall contributed to this report.