With Election Day just hours away, dozens of polling places aren't ready yet in Maricopa County, Arizona

(Image credit: Ralph Freso/Getty Images)

last updated 6 November 2018

'Twas the night before Election Day, when all through Maricopa County, Arizona, voting officials were working their tails off in order to get 72 polling places set up before morning.

As of 5:45 p.m. Monday evening, Fox 10 reported, 72 of the county's 503 polling places were not ready. Reporter John Hook tweeted that Maricopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes told him there was "no guarantee they will be ready by opening for Election Day. They hope to work through the night to open on time, ready to go."

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During the state's primary on Aug. 28, Maricopa County hired a contractor to set up voting machines, but the company didn't send enough technicians, and several polling places across Phoenix could not open at 6 a.m. At the time, Fontes said 62 polling places were affected, but all were up and running by 11:30 a.m. On Monday, Fontes stressed that there are 125 local inspectors setting up the equipment, with the county not relying on outsiders.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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