Kari Lake trails Katie Hobbs as Arizona governor’s race too close to call

The race to be Arizona’s next governor remains too close to call one day after the 2022 midterm elections.

Arizona officials have said the full results could take up to five days to deliver as election workers open and count late-arriving ballots delivered by mail and deposited in drop boxes by Grand Canyon State voters.

As of Wednesday morning, Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, leads her GOP challenger, former TV news anchor and conspiracy theorist Kari Lake, by a margin of 50.9 per cent to 49.1 per cent. The difference between the two candidates was just over 30,000 votes.

Officials plan to release updated vote totals once per day, at approximately 9.00 pm ET. Ms Lake, who has been endorsed by former president Donald Trump and who has pledged not to certify any future elections that result in Democratic victories, would need to make up the 30,000 vote deficit with strong showings in the state’s most populous area, Maricopa County.

The race to replace term-limited governor Doug Ducey was roiled early on Election Day by reports that Maricopa County voting machines were not properly reading submitted ballots.

Ms Lake claimed, without offering evidence, that the trouble with electronic tabulators was part of a Democratic plot to stymie her chances to win even though officials said all votes would be counted by transporting ballots to locations with functioning equipment.

In a speech to supporters late Tuesday, Ms Hobbs addressed the allegations.

“We know my opponent and her allies have been sowing doubts and confusion throughout this campaign. It's unacceptable that they were spreading this [mis]information today while people were exercising their freedom to vote,” she said.

For her part, Ms Lake was still confident that she would win when she addressed her own supporters on election night.

"We will take the victory when it comes. And we will turn this state around,” she said. She has not stated that she will accept the results of the election if she is not declared the winner.