The only trulyserious vulnerability here is Brnovichs Senate campaign prospects, which is why I suspect that the attorney general who in 2020 had no problemwithArizonas election nowsuddenly does. Audit Reports - Sorted by Release Date; . The BeachFleischman logo, BEACHFLEISCHMAN, and COLLABORATE . From left, Ben Cotton, Doug Logan and Randy Pullen in the Arizona Senate in 2021. Its not a poke in the eye thing. 09/16/21. Subscribe to stay connected to Tucson. The Florida-based firm recounted ballots cast in both the race for president and the race for a U.S. Senate seat, in which Democrat Mark Kelly ousted Republican Martha McSally. It is FREE! Logan did not return a message from Axios. Senate President Karen Fann, who hired Cyber Ninjas, said the draft report obtained by Capitol Media Services might not be the last word. Auditors have reportedly scanned ballots with UV lights to look for secret watermarks that conspiracy theorists believe then-President Donald Trumps Department of Homeland Security placed on legitimate ballots to differentiate them from fraudulent ones; theyve also inspected ballots for traces of bamboo to determine if they were imported from Asia. But election analysts and experts said that figure is meaningless without more context. PHOENIX, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden in Arizona's most populous county, a review of results by his allies in the Republican Party has reaffirmed, capping a widely panned effort spurred by Trump's false claims of voter fraud. Democratic members of a U.S. House committee on Thursday questioned Arizona officials on the potential damage that a partisan review of the state's 2020 election results had on trust in American . And there are three women who returned their recently deceased mothers early ballots. Review reports of audit work performed by the Internal Audit department over the 3 most recent fiscal years. 410Phoenix, AZ 85018-7271Phone: (602) 553-0333, Copyright (c) 2022 Arizona Auditor General. 5. A judge said Thursday he's not ready to cite the Arizona Senate and its president, Karen Fann, for contempt of court. Biden Is One-Big-Scandal! What they're saying: Fann and former Cyber Ninjas head Doug Logan, who led the audit team, have never publicly responded to the county's rebuttal. The panel focused on Trumps efforts to undo Joe Bidens victory in a most local way by leaning on officials in key battleground states to reject ballots outright or to submit alternative electors for the final tally in Congress. "This was Donald Trump's best chance to prove his cases of elections being rigged and fraudulent and they failed," Ginsberg said on a media call organized by the States United Democracy Center, a nonpartisan policy group. Also weighing in was former Congressman Matt Salmon, who is hoping to become the Republican nominee for governor. Perhaps the most interesting episode so far. Hear from both sides of the aisle - CBS 13's Cody Lee reports. "Those numbers were close, within a few hundred.". Essentially we came up with the same number, Pullen said Thursday. We are actively hiring for a Cloud Engineer Join us and suppo rt CSAA Insurance Group, a AAA I nsurer, in achieving our goals. A judge on Tuesday rejected a state Senate claim that some of its records about the 2020 election audit are not subject to public disclosure. Forensic audits where the systems and machines used for recording and tabulating votes are checked to make sure theyre operating properly include even more guardrails. Pressed for details, Salmon cited what he called the countys admitted lack of control over its own election equipment, presumably referring to the fact that Dominion Voting Systems, from whom the county leased the machines, had passwords. Browse an unrivalled portfolio of real-time and historical market data and insights from worldwide sources and experts. Who is Solomon Pea, the GOP candidate arrested in political shooting case? I will take all necessary actions that are supported bythe evidence and where I have legal authority, Brnovich said. Concerns about the audit have reached the U.S. Justice Department, which sent a letter to Arizona Senate President Karen Fann to warn about "potential non-compliance with federal laws," including . In fact, the report says that, based on a hand count of all 2.1 million ballots cast in Maricopa County, official winner Joe Biden tallied 99 more votes than the county recorded and Donald Trump had 261 fewer votes than officially recorded. Yes, election fraud by individuals who have been or will be prosecuted for various election crimes Wow. Sorry, you need to enable JavaScript to visit this website. The revelations first published by The Washington Post on May 20 show that Ginni Thomas was more involved than previously known in efforts, based on unsubstantiated claims of fraud, to overturn Bidens victory and keep then-President Donald Trump in office. Doug Ducey said after Donald Trump called him "Republican in name only.". What eye color is the rarest in the world? 48 seeks a contractor to conduct an annual financial audit of financial transactions and accounts kept by or for the District . Whether the audit gets stopped, or they find no problems, or if they purport to find major problems, all of those will reduce voter confidence. The words fraud and prosecuted are finally being used.. Reuters provides business, financial, national and international news to professionals via desktop terminals, the world's media organizations, industry events and directly to consumers. Arizona election audit continues as deadline creeps up. Trump trounces DeSantis in potential GOP primary match-up, new poll finds, McDaniel says she has enough support to win race for RNC chair, White House rips appointment of extreme MAGA members to House Oversight panel, McCarthy goes on attack against red-state Senate Democrats, What is ChatGPT? At a hearing this month, Arizona senate president Karen Fann said shes been contacted by legislators in other states who told her that this is whats going to lay the groundwork as to what is the future of how we audit our elections.. For the past five weeks, workers from Cyber Ninjas, a small private cybersecurity company based in Sarasota, Florida, have gathered in an arena to re-recount all the ballots nearly 2.1 million at the behest of the states Republican senators. Although Trump carried Texas, Biden won three of the targeted counties. 2023 www.azcentral.com. Nearly six months after President Joe Biden won Arizona by nearly 10,500 votes and Maricopa County by over 45,100 votes, auditors are set to hand count 2.1 million ballots in the county. And Logan has made no claims like that since. Build the strongest argument relying on authoritative content, attorney-editor expertise, and industry defining technology. It came down to: People split their ticket, he told Fox Business Neil Cavuto. Among the bills killed were measures that would have created new criminal charges for a variety of missteps by election workers and contractors; created new rights for election observers, including the right to question election officials during counting; set new requirements for post-election audits and recordkeeping; required a unique serial number on each ballot. Yes, it seems thatArizonas elusive election fraud has finally been uncovered. Likewise, recounts can ferret out inaccuracies. This means the countys voting equipment is now compromised. On July 29, the ballots were returned to the Maricopa County treasurer's office, and they are now locked inside a. . Talk of similar exercises is being discussed in Michigan and New Hampshire, too. It is frustrating. Records related to the election review by Cyber Ninjas the firm Senate Republicans hired are public, the court held in rejecting lawmakers' effort to keep them secret. The recount took several months and resulted in a three-volume report by the Cyber Ninjas, the lead contractor for the Senate. The Arizona inquiry is part of a larger effort by Republicans to undermine faith in the 2020 election and gain more control over the voting process. Or maybe he intentionally omitted the fact that we are talking about nine whole cases of election fraud. A wide array of election experts, Democrats and some Republican officials had long rejected the Arizona audit as a highly partisan boondoggle run by contractors without relevant expertise. Get more local stories in your inbox with Axios Phoenix. "This tops the level of constituent interest those issues have. Ayyadurai, however, did not have access to county files that have voters signatures to compare with those on the envelopes. It seems to be prompted by political motivations because the earlier counts and checks didnt produce the outcome that the legislators wanted.. The Republican-led Arizona audit being conducted by the Florida-based tech company Cyber Ninjas took an unexpected turn after voter data was transported to a mystery "lab" in Montana to be. Keep reading with a digital access subscription. Continuing coverage: Arizona Election Audit. It's been one year since the team behind the so-called audit of the 2020 election in Maricopa County presented its largely debunked findings in the state Senate. Brnovich, pointedly, did not cite any evidence offered by Cyber Ninjas. 2023 FOX Television Stations, from WED 10:00 PM MST until THU 9:00 AM MST, Western Pima County including Ajo/Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Tohono O'odham Nation including Sells, Tucson Metro Area including Tucson/Green Valley/Marana/Vail, South Central Pinal County including Eloy/Picacho Peak State Park, Southeast Pinal County including Kearny/Mammoth/Oracle, Cochise County considers hand-counting ballots, but lawyer says no, Arizona GOP candidates Lake, Finchem appeal ruling against hand counts, Arizona Supreme Court makes ruling on Maricopa County 2020 election audit lawsuit, Top election officials in Yavapai County leave amid threats, January 6 hearing: Local 'heroes' rebuffed Trump, then faced threats, Records show coordinated Arizona ballot collection scheme, Ginni Thomas emails deepen her involvement in 2020 election, Arizona AG Brnovich's letter offers no proof of 2020 election fraud, Arizona election audit: Final report finds no Maricopa County data issues, Arizona Senate GOP revives controversial election bill, GOP tensions rise as Arizona Senate votes down more election bills, Arizona Supreme Court wont consider Cyber Ninjas appeal of daily $50K fine, Arizona high court to decide if Senate 2020 election audit records kept secret, No charges for 151 Arizona votes vetted over 2020 election fraud claims, Cyber Ninjas chief wants to start new firm with same workers, Cyber Ninjas faces daily $50K fine over Arizona election audit records, Maricopa Co. releases new report on 2020 election, deems many claims misleading; here's what you need to know, Lawyer for Arizona Senate election audit firm wants to quit, Far too little vote fraud to tip 2020 election to Trump, AP review finds, Arizona Senate can't claim legislative privilege for 2020 election audit records, judge rules, Wes Moore sworn in as Marylands first Black governor, Deaf student's interpreter lawsuit at center of Supreme Court case, Alaskan aurora chaser gets amazing display right on his doorstep, 'My choice is to stay true to myself': Flyers' Provorov cites religion for boycott on Pride night, Racine police shooting; officers wounded, man arrested, Athena Brownfield: Caregiver for missing Oklahoma girl arrested in Arizona, Woman charged with attempted murder of boyfriend who peed in bed, Athena Brownfield: Man arrested in Phoenix beat missing Oklahoma girl to death, court documents say, TSA finds 84 mm caliber weapon in checked luggage at Texas airport, Super Bowl LVII: Federal officials measuring radiation in the Phoenix area; here's what you should know, Suspect shot during attempted robbery at Avondale gas station, 2 arrested months after deadly El Mirage shooting, Teen accused of opening fire on ASU campus indicted by grand jury, Maricopa County deputy hurt in Tempe crash. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Study suggests US freshwater fish highly contaminated with forever White House charges GOP with hypocrisy on Trump, Biden, Five ways a debt limit crisis could derail the US economy, George Santos gets two committee assignments, Comer focuses on Penn Biden Center in investigation of classified documents, How the war in Ukraine could end sooner than expected. For Star subscribers: The Department of Justice said Monday it will "monitor compliance with federal voting rights laws'' in five Arizona counties, also including Maricopa. Conducted by a company founded by an election-fraud conspiracy theorist and Trump supporter, the process is funded mostly by Trump loyalists and fails to meet any of the standards required for official recounts or audits by state law. The judge found Cyber Ninjas in contempt for its failure to turn over documents, which two Maricopa County judges and the state Court of Appeals have ruled are subject to the public records law. AG @GeneralBrnovich has determined widespread FRAUD in the Maricopa County 2020 election, the Arizona Republican Party breathlessly reported. Tool can help customers get canceled flight refunds. He claimed there are serious vulnerabilities in Arizonas electoralsystem, but he couldnt point to a single instance of a phony vote as a result. OAN's Christina Bobb has been covering the Arizona election audit and fundraising for the effort. cookie. I understand why people are frustrated.. Those ballots broke for President Biden by a 45,000-vote margin, about four times his winning margin statewide, making him the first Democrat to carry Arizona sinceformer President Clinton. Here are the 10 states with the least healthy populations. Within hours of Brnovich's report, Republican legislative hopeful Steve Zipperman had already pumped out afundraising plea. The Arizona Senate on Friday heard testimony from the firm it hired to conduct a so-called audit of more than 2 million votes cast in Maricopa County during the 2020 elections, the latest in a. Cotton already has made claims county election equipment was vulnerable to hacking, a contention disputed by county officials. Its frustrating to all of us," he said on Steve Bannon's podcast on Thursday. Bennett was tasked with determining whether county officials followed all election laws. Between the lines: Gates and Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer said they believed the audit helped propel election deniers in this year's GOP primary. The Arizona Senate on Friday heard testimony from the firm it hired to conduct a so-called audit of more than2 million votes cast in Maricopa County during the 2020 elections, the latest in a cavalcade of election disinformation spread at the behest of former President Trump. "The Board of Supervisors remains committed to free and fair elections that conform to federal and state laws.". 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These include 23,344 mail-in ballots that were voted from someone's prior address and more than 10,000 voters who potentially voted in multiple counties, according to the draft report. He won the state by more than 10,000 votes, or 0.31 percent. Byrne Hobart writes at thediff.co, analyzing inflections in finance and tech. Former Secretary of State Ken Bennett last week temporarily stepped down from his role as liaison to the senate's self-styled audit of Maricopa County votes. [1/6]People gather outside Arizona Government building ahead of the announcement of interim findings from a widely criticized audit of the 2020 election in Phoenix, Arizona, September 24, 2021. Support local journalism: Subscribe to azcentral.com today. Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs said the audit was filled with security lapses, delays, disorganization and a lack of transparency. She said the review failed to meet industry standards for an audit, much less an election audit., And the Arizona Democratic Party already has scheduled a press conference to occur four hours before the report is released, calling it a farcical, conspiracy-driven audit that is a disgrace to our democratic processes., It isnt only Democrats, however, who have raised questions. Why is there a need for another recount? The Arizona Auditor General is seeking proposals for services of certified public accounting firms to perform annual financial statement and compliance audits and annual expenditure limitation report examinations for each of the following auditees: Yavapai County, Gila County Provisional Community College District, Graham County Community College District, and Santa Cruz County Provisional Community College District for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2022. 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