Maricopa County as of November 2, 2020. (Sharpies are allowed) https://imgur.com/HQmTD66 (Source: https://recorder.maricopa.gov/site/faq.aspx)
Maricopa County as of Oct 21, 2020 (No Sharpies) https://imgur.com/TjsSChg (Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20201021221543/https://recorder.maricopa.gov/site/faq.aspx)
Did they update their equipment? 2020 Election Cycle Voting Equipment:
(Source: https://azsos.gov/sites/default/files/2020_0709_Election_Cycle_Voting_Equipment.pdf)
2019 Election Equipment Certification: https://imgur.com/3X5DlWb
(Source: https://azsos.gov/sites/default/files/20200722_Official_Certified_Equipment_List.pdf)
The answer is NO. They did not change equipment. In fact, the ballot scan tool, ImageCast Precinct2 has the exact same firmware version as last year. So why did the Maricopa website change to support Sharpies at the 11th hour of the election?
To Cheat. That’s why.
I voted in every election In AZ from 1996-2016 I can tell you, using the ball point take gosh darn forever, the marker (like we use in NM) is pretty quick, so switch to the marker, and viola quicker to make all the extra votes you need to cheat.