In 2000, Florida had its confetti. Attached or rather badly detached from the ballot papers, they had held in suspense a country which was waiting to know who of Al Gore or George W. Bush had won the presidential election. Twenty years later, Phoenix has its ” sharpies “: Markers whose appearance in polling stations during the ballot on November 3 has become the symbol in the eyes of Trumpists of the election that Democrats, the media and social networks are trying to” steal “.
“Sharpies” are markers – thin or thick – generally used for addresses on packages or indelible inscriptions. To the surprise of voters in Maricopa County, Arizona’s main county, this is the instrument they were offered when they showed up to vote in person on November 3. ” I had brought my pen, relates Erica Howell, 34, an e-commerce executive who voted in the western suburbs of Phoenix. I was told to use a sharpie “. The young woman immediately saw an eel under the rock. ” A few years ago I wouldn’t have paid attention. But now I can’t believe anything “.
Sitting since morning on a camping chair, Hank Miller, a former Air Force officer who has ” took his day ”To come to protest in front of the election center in Phoenix, did not recover either from having to vote with a sharpie, especially as the ink pierced the paper. The United States being a country which regulates precisely the instruments of writing (no exam without pencil H2B), and advises against the markers which drool, the sharpie appeared suspect. “The first to vote got ballpoint pens, he assures. And all of a sudden they gave sharpies. “
Sharpiegate
It did not take more to trigger what was quickly called the “sharpiegate”: the suspicion that some in the polling stations had tried to invalidate the Republican ballots by making them illegible by the machine. Several hundred people had already seized the Arizona attorney general on Wednesday, who called for an urgent investigation. The Republican Party has filed a complaint against the county. The Democratic Party said it wanted to be part of it too …
Election official Arizona Secretary of State Democrat Katie Hobbs said there was nothing mysterious about the use of markers: officials themselves released a video explaining how the markers contribute to the smooth running of democracy. “The ink dries very quickly”. As the questions were printed in staggered rows, there was also no chance that the answers would be illegible.
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