Protesters return for second day at Maricopa County elections office

PHOENIX — Protesters gathered for a second day in downtown Phoenix on Thursday as elections results continue to trickle in for Democratic candidate Joe Biden and President Donald Trump.

Dozens of Trump supporters gathered outside of the Maricopa County Elections Department as ballots continued to be tabulated. A number of protesters were seen carrying firearms.

For safety, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office set up a free speech zone to allow protesters to demonstrate.

This is what it currently sounds like outside the county election center as @realDonaldTrump speaks. pic.twitter.com/sc5Yr8zQ1b

— Gabriel Gamiño, MA (@gaminogabriel) November 5, 2020

U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar was among the people in the crowd as well.

.@RepGosar has arrived and just sang YMCA with protesters outside @MaricopaVote. pic.twitter.com/QzitkRwlkm

— Gabriel Gamiño, MA (@gaminogabriel) November 6, 2020

Protesters had previously gathered Wednesday night outside of the elections department protesting to have their votes counted as well.

Maricopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Gaydos & Chad that the county was planning to release an additional 75,000 ballot results Thursday around 7 p.m.

Arizona has been in the national spotlight as ballot counting continues to determine which candidate will receive Arizona’s 11 electoral votes. Entering Thursday, Biden led President Donald Trump by about 68,000 votes, a difference of 2.35 percentage points.

The Associated Press called Arizona, a battleground state, in favor of Biden early Wednesday morning after an analysis of ballots cast statewide concluded there were not enough outstanding to allow incumbent Trump to catch up.

Arizona’s electoral votes could have a hand in deciding the election, as other states like Pennsylvania, Georgia and Nevada are also still counting votes to determine the presidential winner.

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KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Gabriel Gamino and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

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