Biden Lead in Arizona Narrows but Few Ballots Remain

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden (L) and President Donald Trump in file photographs. Getty Images; Reuters

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s lead in Arizona continued shrinking on Wednesday with the latest batch of ballots added to the state’s unofficial results, but the trend line is not in President Donald Trump’s favor, Arizona’s attorney general said.

Biden’s lead dwindled to 11,635, a drop of 1,178 from Tuesday, with 13,362 more votes counted from Maricopa County, which holds about two-thirds of the state’s population.

That’s a lead of 0.4 percent. Arizona law allows recounts if the margin is within 0.1 percent or 200 votes, whichever is the smaller number.

The office of Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, says fewer than 25,000 votes remain to be counted. Maricopa County officials say there are about 6,700 ballots left to tabulate there.

The Associated Press and Fox News have called the state for Biden, a projection Decision Desk joined on Wednesday.

But Trump’s campaign has maintained confidence in winning Arizona when all the votes are counted.

“From 200,000 votes to less than 10,000 votes. If we can audit the total votes cast, we will easily win Arizona also!” Trump wrote on Twitter on Thursday.

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, a Republican, said Wednesday night that he believes Biden won the state.

“The reality is, right now there’s less than 50,000 votes to count and the president would have to get about 65 percent of them to win Arizona. So it does appear that Joe Biden will win Arizona,” he said on Fox Business, speaking before the latest ballot dump.

Votes are counted by staff at the Maricopa County Elections Department office in Phoenix, Arizona, on Nov. 5, 2020. Courtney Pedroza/Getty Images

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Daniel Kiley ruled late Tuesday to unseal evidence in a Trump campaign lawsuit that alleges votes were rejected in the county because of improper guidance from poll workers.

That legal battle is ongoing but only affects several hundred votes, Brnovich said.

“Based on that lawsuit, and the ballots that are being contested, and based on what we know happened in the past, there is no evidence, there are no facts that would lead anyone to believe that the election results would change,” he said.

“Just to be very clear, it is mathematically possible that the president could win 65 percent of the [remaining] votes. But I’m just saying that, if you talk to political people, pollsters, mathematicians, statisticians, they'll say that based on the trend line, that’s not likely to happen.”

Trump’s campaign didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Brnovich also noted that his office sought information after receiving over 1,000 complaints about the use of Sharpies at polling sites but was ultimately satisfied when told by Maricopa County officials that the use of the markers did not lead to votes being rejected.

Arizona is one of six battleground states where ballot counting is still happening or litigation over potential election fraud or irregularities is playing out. The Epoch Times is not calling the presidential race until the legal battles are resolved.

Biden is ahead in all six states.

If a recount ends up happening in Arizona, it could be the fourth in the nation. Georgia’s secretary of state earlier Wednesday ordered a hand recount, while Trump’s campaign is requesting one in Wisconsin, where state law allows a recount request based on the margin between the candidates.

Trump’s campaign officials said this week they’re hopeful a lawsuit in Pennsylvania will lead to a recount and that the president will ultimately win the state’s 20 electoral votes.

Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly described the Arizona recount law. The Epoch Times regrets the error.