Voting machines in Republican areas of Arizona were broken purposely during a past election.

Posted by Badlands Media, Oct 15, 2026Checked Nov 2, 2026

Polygraph verdictFalse

Sources: 6 contradict1 support1 context
Said: 1 time·
Confidence: 85%

Badlands MediaOct 15, 2026

The claim that Arizona voting machines in Republican areas were purposely broken in the 2022 election is contradicted by the record: printer/ballot-ink malfunctions hit both Republican and Democrat-leaning sites, election officials and AP found no deliberate sabotage, and fact-checkers and courts rejected the fraud allegations.

What was said

… And I tell you what, I want to give my respects to that person. She's a very good person. She suffered greatly. She won that election, probably won the other one, too, but I'm not even talking about the other one. The damn machines were broken in Republican areas. They were broken purposely, and you couldn't vote. They wouldn't let you vote, and they grabbed her, and they said, "You'll vote over here," and they took her to a Democrat area. She voted. She came back. You couldn't vote. They came back later that night. …

Badlands Media · Oct 15, 2026· from the transcriptPost →

What we found

Contradicts. AP fact-check found the problems were not confined to conservative areas: printing issues stopped some ballots from being counted onsite across Maricopa County, including in Democrat-leaning areas like downtown Phoenix and Tempe.[1]

Contradicts. Election officials said the machines were not misreading ballots but failed to accept them due to a printer issue; Maricopa officials said voters could still vote and no one was disenfranchised, and the problem was a technical issue rather than fraud.[2][3][5]

Contradicts. PBS fact-check of the same quoted line calls the assertion that machines were broken purposefully in Republican areas false, explaining the cause was ink too light for tabulators, not sabotage.[4]

Contradicts. A federal court ruled the lawsuit challenging the voting machines was baseless and speculative, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to overturn the sanctions, leaving that ruling intact.[6]

Supports. The malfunctions in 2022 were real: about 20% of tabulators in Maricopa County had printer-related problems on Election Day, and some voters faced delays, so part of the claim's background event is accurate.[2][7]

Context. Investigations and court rulings found no evidence the 2022 ballot-printer malfunctions were deliberate or changed the outcome.[8]