Protesters gather for third day outside Maricopa County elections office
Nov 6, 2020, 11:36 AM | Updated: 1:58 pm
(KTAR News/Taylor Kinnerup)
(KTAR News/Taylor Kinnerup)
PHOENIX — For the third day in a row, protesters gathered in downtown Phoenix on Friday as presidential election results continue to be tallied.
Hundreds of people gathered outside of the Maricopa County Elections Department protesting to have their votes counted and chanting “we’ve got rights.”
Chair of the Arizona Republican Party Kelli Ward was among the crowd Friday.
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office set up a free speech zone on Thursday to allow protesters to demonstrate, while keeping the entrance of the building open.
Virtually no parking in surrounding neighborhoods as trucks with ‘Trump 2020,’ American flags and blue line flags continue to drive by as speakers take turns on an open mic/make shift speaker system. pic.twitter.com/yojV5vJnlX
— Taylor Kinnerup (@TaylorKinnerup) November 6, 2020
U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar was among the crowd in Thursday night’s protest and spoke to KTAR News 92.3 FM about why he supports the protesters.
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“These are people that want to make sure that they can assemble peacefully, that they have the right of free speech and they’re concerned about their right to vote,” Gosar said. “That if they cast a legal vote, it goes to their person of choice. That’s it. That’s all they want. Let the chips fall where they may.”
Gosar also said he is confident that the rest of the ballots would help Trump gain Arizona’s 11 electoral votes.
“When we saw the Fox announcement to go directly right to saying ‘Listen, put it in Biden,’ something was wrong,” Gosar said. “It was way too early. The early ballots that were sent in first, heavily Biden, but the ones right before the general election were heavily Trump and we kept seeing that trend.”
Crowd continues to grow outside @MaricopaVote. My best estimate is that the “Protect the Vote” rally currently has 600+ people. pic.twitter.com/TPR1qO44v6
— Gabriel Gamiño, MA (@gaminogabriel) November 6, 2020
Biden was leading Trump 1,561,147 to 1,517,368 in Arizona as of Friday morning, according to results from the Arizona Secretary of State.
The Associated Press projected Biden to win Arizona Wednesday morning, determining there were not enough outstanding ballots to allow Trump to catch up.
