Laptop computers sit abandoned, at times open, unlocked and unmonitored. Procedures are constantly shifting, with untrained workers using different rules to count ballots. Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, on Wednesday sent a letter outlining a string of problems that she said observers from her office have witnessed at a Republican-led recount of the 2020 presidential election results in Arizona’s largest county. In the six-page letter, Hobbs wrote that elections are “governed by a complex framework of laws and procedures designed to ensure accuracy, security, and transparency” but that the procedures governing the ongoing recount in Phoenix “ensure none of those things.”
Election audit continues, but judge orders release of documents guiding the audit
Maricopa County ballots cast in the 2020 general election are being photographed, examined, and recounted at Veterans Memorial Coliseum by contractors working for Florida-based company, Cyber Ninjas, who was hired by the Arizona State Senate. Photo by Rob Schumacher | Arizona Republic/pool
The election audit ordered by Senate Republicans won’t be halted because Democrats shown that voter privacy has been violated, a judge ruled Wednesday.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Daniel Martin denied the Democrats’ request for a temporary restraining order, saying that they have not brought “substantive evidence” to prove voter privacy has or could be harmed by the audit.
Judge has doubts amid Arizona audit of 2020 election
AP, PHOENIX, Arizona
A judge hearing a challenge to voter privacy policies during an Arizona Senate recount of 2.1 million election ballots from last year’s US presidential election on Tuesday said that he is not convinced voter secrecy is being upheld.
“I will share with you all, I am not yet persuaded that there has been a showing that the rights of the voters in Maricopa County are being protected,” Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Daniel Martin said. “And I think we will touch on this tomorrow [yesterday] when we address the policies and procedures and whether or not they can be withheld from public view.”
Media to get day in court over Senate election audit
Cyber Ninjas owner Doug Logan, left, a Florida-based consultancy, talks about overseeing a 2020 election ballot audit ordered by the Republican lead Arizona Senate at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum, as a Cyber Ninjas IT technician demonstrates a ballot scan during a news conference Thursday, April 22, 2021, in Phoenix. The equipment used in the November election won by President Joe Biden and the 2.1 million ballots were moved to the site Thursday so Republicans in the state Senate who have expressed uncertainty that Biden’s victory was legitimate can recount them and audit the results. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Capitol Media Services
PHOENIX A judge on Tuesday said he has yet to be convinced that the rights of Maricopa County voters are being protected in the audit being conducted at the demand of the state Senate.
In a wide-ranging ruling, Judge Daniel Martin affirmed that the Senate has the authority to review the 2.1 million ballots and the machinery used to tabulate them as part of its legislative function. But he rejected claims by attorneys for the Senate that its members are constitutionally immune from being sued over how the audit is being handled by an outside contractor. The manner in which that audit is being conducted must be balanced against the constitutional rights of the voters in Maricopa County, including the rights to secrecy and and confidentiality of information, he said.