In an update, Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone says his office is providing a significant amount of resources to provide security at ballot drop boxes.
Fueled by false claims of fraud in the 2020 election from former President Donald Trump, drop boxes have become a hotbed for conspiracy theories as people allege without evidence that people illegally collected and deposited ballots in them.
Since the beginning of September, Penzone says his office has received about 14 election related tips. It has also written two criminal reports it is sending to the county attorney’s office to determine if charges should be filed.
“It’s absurd to think that any individual can’t go to a vote box and drop their ballot, that you can’t go to a polling cite and not be harassed," Penzone said.
So far no arrests have been made. Penzone added he believes the mistrust in law enforcement and polling process is undermining the nation.
"The more folks there are that are creating problems the more deputies that you’ll see on the streets focused on this versus burglaries and crimes against children and robberies and all of the stuff we should be doing. But we’ll come and babysit polling sites because people have to misbehave if that’s what we have to do to protect democracy," he said.
Penzone added that he’ll have resources remaining at polling locations so people can vote safely. He added that the mistrust in the election process is undermining the nation.
