This is the second-largest voting jurisdiction in the U.S.

這是美國第二大投票管轄區。

And after the 2020 elections, it became sort of a epicenter of election denialism.

而在 2020 年大選之後，這裡就成了否認選舉的中心。

We don't want people to vote!

我們不希望人們投票！

Because of that, here at the Maricopa County Tabulations and Elections Center, otherwise known as MCTEC, they have made it sort of a security lockdown.

正因如此，馬里科帕縣製表和選舉中心（又稱 MCTEC）已將這裡列為安全封鎖區。

There are razor wires, massive security fences.

這裡有鐵絲網和巨大的安全圍欄。

There's a huge sheriff presence.

有一個巨大的警長存在。

And the sheriffs are telling us that there are even drone units and snipers around this area.

警長告訴我們，這附近甚至有無人機部隊和狙擊手。

The worry is that the security levels like these could soon become the new norm in U.S. elections.

令人擔憂的是，這樣的安全級別很快就會成為美國選舉的新常態。

Few people know election security in Arizona better than Ken Mata.

很少有人比肯-馬塔更瞭解亞利桑那州的選舉安全。

For nearly 20 years, he worked in the Elections Department for the Arizona Secretary of State.

他在亞利桑那州州務卿選舉部工作了近 20 年。

I would have considered election security kind of a sleepy field before 2020, really.

在 2020 年之前，我會認為選舉安全是一個沉睡的領域，真的。

After 2020, everything has changed.

2020 年之後，一切都變了。

In the 2020 presidential election, Joe Biden won Maricopa County and Arizona by a razor-thin margin.

在 2020 年總統大選中，喬-拜登以微弱優勢贏得了馬里科帕縣和亞利桑那州。

Soon after, a wave of misinformation ignited major unrest in Phoenix.

不久之後，錯誤信息的浪潮在鳳凰城引發了重大騷亂。

MCTEC itself was caught off guard.

MCTEC 本身也措手不及。

They weren't expecting hordes of people to show up, many of them armed, onto their property.

他們沒想到會有成群結隊的人出現在他們的地盤上，其中許多人還帶著武器。

If you look at the place now, it looks like a fortress.

如果你現在看看這個地方，它就像一座堡壘。

And that's kind of the new reality.

這就是新的現實。

That's kind of what it's gonna take.

這就是我們要做的。

Amid the conspiracy theories, election workers faced overwhelming threats and relentless harassment.

在陰謀論的蠱惑下，選舉工作人員面臨著鋪天蓋地的威脅和無情的騷擾。

In 2022, Mata, like many other election workers since 2020, made the difficult decision to leave his role.

2022 年，馬塔和 2020 年以來的許多其他選舉工作人員一樣，做出了離開自己崗位的艱難決定。

What was the straw that broke the camel's back for you?

是什麼壓垮了你的駱駝？

One of my responsibilities was to triage communications that came in that was threatening.

我的職責之一是對收到的威脅性通信進行分流。

I spent hours and hours and hours reviewing those messages and listening to them.

我花了幾個小時、幾個小時、幾個小時回顧這些資訊，聆聽它們。

So I started to stress a lot, and I'm sure a lot of my peers did as well, about what if we miss something?

是以，我開始感到壓力很大，我相信我的許多同齡人也是如此，擔心萬一我們錯過了什麼怎麼辦？

You know, it's a harsh environment.

你知道，這裡的環境很惡劣。

You gotta have thick skin.

臉皮要厚

And I think people can really only take that so long.

我認為，人們真的只能忍受這麼長時間。

Mata is now working at Runback Election Services, a private services company supporting election infrastructure.

馬塔現在 Runback 選舉服務公司工作，這是一家支持選舉基礎設施的私營服務公司。

I got out of a frying pan and into another frying pan.

我從油鍋裡出來，又鑽進另一個油鍋。

I get to protect elections from here, from the private sector as well.

我可以在這裡保護選舉，也可以在私營部門保護選舉。

There was relief when I stepped away from the job.

當我離開這份工作時，我感到如釋重負。

Since then, I have missed it terribly.

從那時起，我就非常想念它。

I miss being right in the center of the action and working for the public.

我懷念在活動中心為公眾工作的日子。

On this election day, what do you think, what are the stakes?

在這個選舉日，你怎麼看，有什麼利害關係？

I can't speak to politically what's at stake, but from the election community's point of view, we are in, we're gonna be in for a battering.

我無法從政治角度說明其中的利害關係，但從選舉界的角度來看，我們正處於，我們將面臨一場打擊。

It's gonna be hard.

會很難的

Election officials, they're our brothers and our stepsisters and our moms out there working these jobs.

選舉官員，他們是我們的兄弟，是我們的繼姐妹，是我們在外面工作的媽媽。

These are Americans out there doing the best they can to bring fair and free elections.

這些美國人在那裡盡其所能，帶來公平自由的選舉。

But in 2024, a familiar feeling is happening right now in this election.

但是，在 2024 年的這次選舉中，一種熟悉的感覺正在發生。

I can see the misinformation starting to spin.

我可以看到錯誤的資訊開始四處傳播。

The forces that are putting out misinformation are, they've had a few years to practice and get their game plan together.

那些散佈錯誤信息的勢力，他們有幾年的時間來練習和制定他們的遊戲計劃。

Now, hopefully we're, as a society, we're starting to tire of this and things hopefully will get better, you know, sometime.

現在，我們希望，作為一個社會，我們開始對此感到厭倦，希望事情會有所好轉，你知道，總有一天。

In 2024, the fight's gonna be real, you know, and we endure like we always have.

2024 年，戰鬥將是真實的，你知道，我們將一如既往地忍耐。