Richard Carmona gaining votes as Arizona continues counting ballots
Last week, former U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona conceded the U.S. Senate race in Arizona to six-term Congressman Jeff Flake, who was leading by as much as 6 percent.
But that lead has been cut down to 4 percent as Arizona continues to tally the several hundred thousand ballots still left to be counted.
“We are closely monitoring the remaining ballots and will take any necessary steps to make sure every vote gets counted,” Abigail Duarte, a spokesperson for the Carmona campaign, told VOXXI.
More than 300,000 uncounted ballots left to go
Richard Carmona (Photo Voxxi/ Griselda Nevarez)
As of Tuesday afternoon, the Secretary of State’s office announced that an estimated 324,362 early and provisional ballots statewide still had to be processed and counted in Arizona. That’s down from the initial 631,274 uncounted ballots.
In Maricopa County, where a majority of uncounted ballots come from, there were 93,000 early ballots that hadn’t been counted and 122,000 provisional ballots that had yet to be verified.
The Arizona counties were given 10 days after the elections to count and process the ballots, which means they have until Friday to tally the ballots.
Yvonne Reed, spokesperson for the Maricopa County Department of Elections, said the county is “working very hard to reach that goal.”
“If we find that we do not have the count completed within those days, we will request more time,” Reed told VOXXI.
Richard Carmona, Paul Penzone asked to retract their concession
Activists from One Arizona, a coalition of Latino organizations, have been calling on Richard Carmona to retract his concession.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the Secretary of State’s office announced that an estimated 324,362 early and provisional ballots statewide still had to be processed and counted in Arizona. That’s down from the initial 631,274 uncounted ballots.
On Friday, Carmona emailed a note to supporters saying he was aware of the hundreds of thousands of uncounted ballots but didn’t indicate that he would get back in the race.
“I want to assure you that our team is doing all that it can to make sure every vote gets counted,” Carmona told supporters. “We will take every necessary step to make sure all of our supporters’ ballots are counted.”
Paul Penzone, who conceded the Maricopa County Sheriff race to Joe Arpaio on election night, has received similar requests from One Arizona activists. Like Richard Carmona, he hasn’t indicated that he will withdraw his concession.
Penzone was trailing Arpaio by more than 88,000 votes a day after the elections. Now, he trails the Sheriff by about 85,000 votes with 215,000 ballots still to be tallied in Maricopa County.
Latino activists want every vote counted
Rodolfo Espino, an associate professor of political science at Arizona State University, said he predicts the uncounted ballots won’t produce enough votes to change the outcome of both races.
But Latino activists aren’t losing hope. Hundreds of them have been protesting every day outside the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office since last Wednesday. About 10 of them have been camping outside the office.
“We won’t leave until every vote is counted,” said Patricia Rosas, one of the Latino activists who has been camping out.
