A new audit of Dominion Voting Systems machines that were used during the 2020 presidential election in Maricopa County, Arizona, has concluded with no findings of any issues. According to the audit results as reported by local authorities, there was “no evidence of tampering or hacking” involving any of the machines. Originally, auditors — who were from two different firms — examined both hardware and software with ties to Dominion in the wake of widespread claims from Trump allies that the company was involved in a scheme to rig the election for Joe Biden.
As summarized by Forbes, the “auditors found no unexpected software modifications, viruses or unapproved hardware on any of the dozens of machines they inspected, and they saw no evidence the devices were connected to the internet.” Internet connections would have provided means for hacking and tampering. Maricopa County Supervisor Steve Gallardo commented as follows:
‘The audits clearly dispel the notion that somehow the November election was rigged. Whether you liked the results or not, the will of the people was represented. Our equipment worked. Our people were above reproach.’
Arizona, where Biden was victorious, was one of a slew of states targeted by the pro-Trump conspiracy theories about the presidential election. Trump allies claimed that Dominion equipment and programs were manipulated to swing the election to Biden, but no meaningful evidence for this claim has ever emerged, and no court anywhere in the country has ever even partially accepted the idea. States where Trump allies claimed that fraud was present were, unsurprisingly, places where Biden won, including Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Michigan, among other examples.
Trump personally singled out Arizona leaders for public criticism. During comments delivered via phone at an Arizona meeting designed to air allegations of election fraud, Trump complained, in part, as follows:
‘You have a governor named Ducey who just rushed, couldn’t have gone faster, he just rushed to sign certificates so that [Mark] Kelly gets into the Senate as soon as possible. Why would he sign when you have these incredible hearings going on that’s showing such corruption and such horrible fraud on the American people of Arizona? So you have to figure out, what’s that all about with Ducey?’
Trump’s implication appeared to be that Ducey — a sitting governor — was potentially in on the imaginary fraud scheme that he claimed was responsible for Biden’s victory. Even now, with Biden in the White House and the entire presidential transition process long since complete, Trump isn’t abandoning the idea that he was the rightful 2020 winner, although believing this nonsense at this point would likely require the belief of an overwhelming number of secret fraudsters at virtually all meaningful levels of government.
