Big Legal Move To Stop Arizona GOP Election ‘Audit’ Annonced

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Arizona’s Election Board of Supervisors spoke out vociferously against the Cyber Ninja audit, refusing to participate and saying the process was “embarrassing,” CBS News reported this week. The virgin auditors were leaving ballots and computers unattended and holding the ballots up to UV lights searching for bamboo. After all, anything that comes from Asia has bamboo in it, right?

The board members were not the only ones fed up with the sham audit performed by a conspiracy theorist and Donald Trump supporter’s company, Cyber Ninjas. American Oversight has sued the Arizona Senate in Maricopa County under Arizona’s public records law:

‘[The Senate] was failing to release documents related to the Senate’s partisan audit of the 2020 general election ballots cast in Maricopa County.’

American Oversight has dedicated itself to “uncovering the facts, holding government accountable.” It investigated the state senate’s involvement in the audit. After the Senate President, Karen Fann announced the team handling the audit was Cyber Ninjas, the organization filed suit.

Executive Director of American Oversight Austin Evers said:

‘If President Fann had kept her promise to run a transparent process, we wouldn’t be forced to go to court today. Instead, President Fann is playing a legal shell game — insisting that the audit is official state business when it needs to issue subpoenas, then keeping it at arm’s length to duck transparency laws.’ 

Earlier this month, the Senate responded to American oversight:

‘[There] are no more responsive documents to provide at this time because the Senate doesn’t have custody, control or possession of any of the records requested.’

American Oversight then requested the following information:

  • ‘Communications between former Secretary of State Ken Bennett and any party engaged in planning or executing the audit;
  • Contracts between the Senate, Cyber Ninjas, and third-party vendors;
  • Records reflecting the audit’s budget and any external funding it may have received;
  • Plans detailing the audit’s operations including security measures, chains of custody, organization charts, and investigation techniques; and
  • Plans and training materials for direct voter contact.’

Partner at Coppersmith Brockelman Roopali Desai said:

‘If true, this claim means the Senate or any other public body in Arizona could circumvent public records laws by using public money to hire private contractors to perform government functions and instructing those contractors to maintain sole custody, control and possession of records. This attempt to shield the Senate’s illegitimate investigation from public scrutiny poses a serious threat to voter privacy, civil liberties, and confidence in future elections.’

The court documents, litigation process, and American Oversight’s investigation are available here:  American Oversight.

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