Jonathan J. Cooper
Maricopa County ballots cast in the 2020 general election are examined and recounted by contractors working for Florida-based company, Cyber Ninjas, Thursday, May 6, 2021 at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix. The audit, ordered by the Arizona Senate, has the U.S. Department of Justice saying it is concerned about ballot security and potential voter intimidation arising from the unprecedented private recount of the 2020 presidential election results. (AP Photo/Matt York, Pool) May 13, 2021 - 8:09 PM
PHOENIX (AP) â Republicans in the Arizona Senate have signed a lease to continue their slow-moving audit of the 2020 election results in Maricopa County through the end of June.
Arizona Senate Republicans sign lease to continue vote audit
by Jonathan J. Cooper, The Associated Press
Posted May 13, 2021 4:02 pm EDT
Last Updated May 13, 2021 at 4:14 pm EDT
Maricopa County ballots cast in the 2020 general election are examined and recounted by contractors working for Florida-based company, Cyber Ninjas, Thursday, May 6, 2021 at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix. The audit, ordered by the Arizona Senate, has the U.S. Department of Justice saying it is concerned about ballot security and potential voter intimidation arising from the unprecedented private recount of the 2020 presidential election results. (AP Photo/Matt York, Pool)
PHOENIX (AP) Republicans in the Arizona Senate have signed a lease to continue their slow-moving audit of the 2020 election results in Maricopa County through the end of June.
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It s been seven months since the 2020 US presidential election. Donald Trump may not have conceded, but he s out of office.
Joe Biden has been president for more than 100 days. The drumbeat of policy-making has moved on to pandemic relief and infrastructure spending.
And yet in Mar-a-Lago, Trump is still complaining about his election loss. In Washington, Republicans just booted Liz Cheney, who said Biden was legitimately elected, from her congressional leadership post.
And in Phoenix, Arizona, they re still counting - or technically, auditing - ballots.
What is the audit?
The audit is a review of more than two million ballots cast in Maricopa County - which includes Phoenix - ordered by the Republican majority that controls Arizona s state Senate.
Arizona Republicans push back against Justice Department concerns, setting up possible clash over audit
By Rosalind S. Helderman The Washington Post,Updated May 6, 2021, 9:57 p.m.
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Maricopa County ballots cast in the 2020 general election are examined and recounted by contractors working for Florida-based company, Cyber Ninjas.Matt York/Associated Press
Arizona officials involved with a Republican-commissioned recount of the November presidential election in the stateâs largest county on Thursday brushed off concerns raised by the Justice Department this week, raising the possibility of a clash between state and federal authorities over the audit.
Pamela S. Karlan, who heads the Justice Department s civil rights division, wrote a letter to the president of the Arizona state Senate on Wednesday suggesting that the recount of nearly 2.1 million ballots in Maricopa County by a private contractor may not comply with federal law, which requires that ballots be s