Purcell faced significant controversy following Arizona's 2016 presidential primary in which voters faced long wait times to vote due to a significant reduction in polling places from several hundred to 60.
[3] Purcell faced a serious primary challenge in 2016, narrowly winning the Republican nomination by 185 votes.
Arizona's Presidential Primary election saw historically long lines, with some voters waiting six hours to vote.
[7] Within a day after the election took place, a petition on the White House petitions site asking the Department of Justice to investigate voter suppression and election fraud in Arizona reached its goal of 100,000 signatures in a record amount of time.
[9][10] As a result of the election, and after a request by Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton, the Department of Justice launched a federal investigation into the primary.