Senate mulls next step in auditing 2.1M ballots
These are the 2.1 million ballots cast in November in Maricopa County, loaded onto a truck and ready for delivery to the Senate which may not be able to handle them. PHOTO COURTESY MARICOPA COUNTY
Pallets of ballots sit on trucks in Phoenix as senators figure out what to do next, three months after they declared they wanted their own audit of the presidential election.
The 28 tons of paper packed in hundreds of neatly stacked boxes with nowhere to go serve as a visual representation of the Senate’s audit attempt, which has been full of setbacks and false starts since it began. Republican senators have alternately plunged ahead drafting a resolution to arrest the Maricopa County supervisors who blocked their way and announcing they hired an auditor and fallen back, losing a vote on their contempt resolution and denying they ever selected an auditor after public pressure.
Arizona s abrupt switch to an age-based COVID-19 vaccine rollout this week means some people 55 and older can get vaccinated, but that change is not consistent statewide.
The new model is a hybrid. While the state is now emphasizing age-based vaccination, counties have the job of prioritizing the vaccination of front-line essential workers and vulnerable communities as they see fit.
It s a simpler process, with the switch influenced by the decision that an age-based approach more quickly reaches the most people at higher risk.
An age-based approach also eliminates figuring out how people would have to document their underlying health conditions to qualify.
Senate Republicans Alter Demand For 2 1M Maricopa County Ballots kjzz.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from kjzz.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Maricopa County will turn over
ballots from the November general election to the Arizona Senate and provide the Senate access to its voting machines so it can conduct an audit, after a judge s ruling Friday.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Timothy Thomason said that the subpoenas issued by the Arizona Senate are valid. He said he disagreed with the county s arguments that they were unlawful and that the county legally could not hand over the ballots.
In response, Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jack Sellers said in a statement Friday afternoon that the county will immediately start working to provide the Arizona Senate with the ballots and other materials.