Washington GOP joins Lake-Masters suit demanding Maricopa extend poll hours after machine mishaps

The Republican National Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee are joining Arizona GOP gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake and Blake Masters, the state's Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, in a lawsuit against Maricopa County to extend polling hours following ballot tabulators malfunctioning in 25% of polling locations.

"The RNC is joining a Republican coalition to file an emergency motion to extend poll hours in Maricopa County because voting machines in over 25% of voting locations have experienced significant issues," Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a statement.

"The widespread issues – in an election administered by Democrat Secretary of State Katie Hobbs – are completely unacceptable, especially as Republicans flock to the polls to vote in-person on Election Day. We have dozens of attorneys and thousands of volunteers on the ground working to solve this issue and ensure that Arizona voters have the chance to make their voices heard."

The lawsuit follows earlier reports that about 20% of polling stations experienced issues with tabulators not properly reading ballots. Technicians have changed the printer settings, which seems to have solved the issue, according to reports.

The RNC said that there were long lines at Maricopa County polling places and voters who left the affected locations to vote elsewhere were not checked out of the poll book, which would cause issues at the other locations.

The lawsuit requests polling hours to be extended to 10 p.m. and to "suspend the public release of any tabulated early ballot returns in Maricopa County until 11 p.m."