Hundreds of Trump supporters chant 'four more years' at protest in Arizona Capitol as election count continues



Dozens of pro-Trump protesters marched outside the Arizona State Capitol in Phoenix after tension arose over the results from the presidential election.

Reporter Justin Lum of KSAZ-TV posted video of the peaceful demonstration on Wednesday.

Trump supporters waved American flags and Trump campaign signs while chanting "four more years," in support of the re-election campaign.

Other video showed them chanting "shame on Fox!" which could have been in reference to controversy over the Fox News channel declaring Arizona a victory for Joe Biden.

Pro-Trump rally starting at Arizona Capitol in Phoenix. At least one guy wielding military-style rifle. Some chanti… https://t.co/EMCpdPWnQ1
— Simon Romero (@Simon Romero)1604543025.0

Protesters then marched to the Maricopa County Recorder's building where officials were still counting the ballots from the election.

About 200 people now gathering in front of the Maricopa County Elections Department. #AZ2020 https://t.co/HF8MAzdhKB
— Gadi Schwartz (@Gadi Schwartz)1604546695.0

Outside the building, speakers encouraged Trump supporters and mocked the media.

Image Source: YouTube screenshot

Police officers guarded the front of the building to keep protesters out.

CNN's senior national correspondent Kyung Lah said that some of the protesters were speaking about the "sharpiegate" controversy where Trump supporters were accusing poll workers of cancelling their votes.

Right wing activists are protesting outside the Maricopa County Elections Dept. Reminder— the county is counting th… https://t.co/zfIN08OA99
— Kyung Lah (@Kyung Lah)1604545915.0

Reporter Briana Whitney of KPHO-TV described the protesters as an "extremist group," without noting that at one point the entire group gathered in quiet prayer in order to seek after God's plan whether or not Trump won the presidency.

Just walked out of the Maricopa County Elections Office to this where a large extremist group has re-gathered, extr… https://t.co/xbrFkZZXta
— Briana Whitney (@Briana Whitney)1604546000.0

At about the same time of the protests, Arizona officials released updated numbers of the vote count showing that Trump had gained on the advantage reported for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. The updated numbers showed Biden only had 79,173 votes above Trump, down from his previously reported gap of 92,817 votes.

Steve Cortes, a senior Trump campaign official, argued that of the outstanding 605,000 votes in Arizona, the president should only have to garner 58% of those votes to win over Biden.

The actual math points to a Trump triumph in Arizona, here are the numbers.Stay the course, patriots!#ChalkTalk https://t.co/wIFUSt4XKW
— Steve Cortes (@Steve Cortes)1604531860.0

Another update from Arizona's election was expected on Wednesday evening.

Here's a livestream media about the protest:

Phoenix, AZ Vote Fraud Protestwww.youtube.com

Trump voters accuse Arizona poll workers of giving them a sharpie pen to thwart their vote, and election officials have responded



Supporters of President Donald Trump spread a rumor that their votes were being thwarted in Arizona by poll workers giving them a sharpie brand pen that would cancel their ballot, but election officials refuted the claims.

Matt Schlapp, the chairman of the American Conservative Union chairman, was among those spreading the theory on social media Wednesday.

AZ update: apparently the use of sharpie pens in gop precincts is causing ballots to be invalidated. Could be huge… https://t.co/voKn5hJD8s
— Matt Schlapp (@Matt Schlapp)1604508713.0

Twitter restricted the visibility of the tweet over the disputed claims.

Schlapp tweeted, "apparently the use of sharpie pens in gop precincts is causing ballots to be invalidated. Could be huge numbers of mostly Trump supporters."

Local officials respond

Local officials in Arizona attempted to debunk the theory.

"The felt-tip pen ballot controversy burning through social media is false. Don't get caught up in it," read a tweet from the Pima County government.

The felt-tip pen ballot controversy burning through social media is false. Don't get caught up in it. Arizona ballo… https://t.co/UdXSCYKVXD
— Official Pima County (@Official Pima County)1604508659.0

"Arizona ballot tabulating machines can read ballots marked with a felt tip pen. Felt pens are discouraged because the ink can bleed through," they added.

They went on to explain the process of deciphering the ballot and counting it even if the ink bleeds through on the ballot.

"All ballots in which voter intent can be discerned will be counted. That's also in the manual. No ballots will be discarded because of the method used to color in the ovals," they added.

The public information officer for the Arizona Secretary of State said in an email to the Associated Press that people were misunderstanding the cancellation of ballots.

"If a voter's ballot is listed as canceled, it usually means the voter made an additional ballot request if they needed to have their original ballot replaced," said Sophia Solis. "Depending on when they returned their replacement ballot, that ballot is most likely still being processed by the county."

Despite the statement of election officials, some continued to spread the theory on social media.

"This is one example of fraud and maybe that happened in multiple places and states. Especially those Pro-Trump. The center gave the voter a sharpie to mark the options and this type of ink is not readable by the machine to register the votes," read one tweet.

Apparently, word got out that conservatives tend to vote on election day. SO, several poll workers in Arizona, chos… https://t.co/oqzOW6OhyC
— Becky Bunde (@Becky Bunde)1604496164.0
People in Arizona are messaging me saying that their ballots have been canceled.Here's the kicker: Their polling… https://t.co/ek74IvYwyo
— Alexandra Lains 🇺🇸 (@Alexandra Lains 🇺🇸)1604507990.0

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich sent a letter demanding answers about the controversy from Maricopa County election officials after receiving hundreds of complaints.

On Wednesday, Trump campaign advisor Steve Cortes admitted in a video that Joe Biden was leading Trump in the ballot count in Arizona by 93,000 votes, but noted that the president only needed 58% of 605,000 votes that were still being counted in order to beat Biden.

Here's more about the sharpie election conspiracy:

Arizona AG opens inquiry into Sharpie ballot complaints, elections officials say votes will countwww.youtube.com