Thu 13 May 2021 10.00 EDT
Last modified on Thu 13 May 2021 11.31 EDT
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By now, youâve probably heard about the unprecedented effort to recount 2.1m votes in Arizona and all of the wacky conspiracy theories â including searching for bamboo fibers in ballots â that the effort seems to be amplifying.
I watched this effort in person for three days last week. Election administration experts â who usually go out of their way to be non-partisan â have raised alarms about the process. But as I watched it unfold in Phoenix from the press box about 20 rows up from the arena floor, I couldnât shake the idea of how benign, even normal, the whole thing might look to a casual observer. Three different counters at each table were tallying ballots, which were then photographed and scanned â what exactly was happening that made this so dangerous?
The ballots themselves can no longer be trusted : Secretary of State audit observers express concerns on audit security, accuracy This is really dangerous for our democracy, says Secretary of State Katie Hobbs. We think they’re writing the playbook here to take this across the country. Author: Erica Stapleton Updated: 6:10 PM MST May 6, 2021
PHOENIX The clock is ticking for Senate Republicans, who say the audit is approaching 10 percent of the 2.1 million ballots they need to recount from the 2020 election.
They have until May 14th before Veterans Memorial Coliseum, where the audit is taking place, will be used for high school graduations.
Updated: Thursday, May 6, 2021 - 8:50pm
Courtney Pedroza/Getty Images/Pool
Contractors working for Cyber Ninjas, who were hired by the Arizona Senate, examine and recount ballots from the 2020 general election at Veterans Memorial Coliseum on May 1, 2021 in Phoenix.
Election experts say processes used to review and recount votes cast in Maricopa County are vastly different from standards used by election officials, casting doubt about the results of the review ordered by the Republican-led state Senate.
A team of election observers, working on behalf of Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, has spent the past week on the floor of Veterans Memorial Coliseum watching private firms hired by the Senate slowly recount votes cast for president and U.S. Senate in November.
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Officials have raised concerns over the handling of 2020 presidential election ballots in the Arizona audit. Former Arizona Attorney General Grant Woods and former local election official Jennifer Morrell join Ayman.May 7, 2021
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