As the GOP-led clown show otherwise known as a presidential election “audit” in Maricopa County, Arizona, rolls on, a technology company from Pennsylvania that had been running Republicans’ hand recount of almost 2.1 million presidential election ballots in the county has now abandoned the effort. The contract that looped the company into the Maricopa County election audit ended on May 14, which was the originally scheduled end date for the audit, and the company — called Wake TSI — was “done” and “didn’t want to come back,” according to audit spokesperson Randy Pullen.
Wake TSI worked as a subcontractor under the direction of a firm known as Cyber Ninjas, which was tasked by Republicans in the Arizona state Senate with leading the effort. The Maricopa County audit has gotten underway after Republican state legislators subpoenaed and successfully obtained election materials from last year’s election, which were previously held by local authorities. Those local officials have lambasted the audit effort. Maricopa County board chair Jack Sellers, who is a Republican, recently noted that it’s “clearer by the day” that the auditors hired by state Republican leaders are “in way over their heads.” The issue is “not funny,” but “dangerous,” Sellers added.
Chairman @jacksellers responds to "false and ill-informed" allegations from Arizona Senate and Senate audit account. "It's clearer by the day the people hired by the Senate are in way over their heads." Full statement below: pic.twitter.com/kBkVKgbEcD
— Maricopa County (@maricopacounty) May 14, 2021
Now, an Arizona-based tech company called StratTech Solutions will apparently be leading the hand recount in Maricopa County. According to Pullen — the audit spokesperson — many of the individuals who previously worked on the audit under Wake TSI will now be working under StratTech. The effort was set to begin again on Monday after a temporary halt so that high school graduations could take place in the arena that auditors were using.
As for StratTech, it’s “unclear whether the company, which specializes in cybersecurity and other internet technology, has any election or auditing experience,” The Arizona Republic notes, underscoring the total ineptitude defining the whole Maricopa County operation. Those involved in the audit effort have even looked for bamboo fibers among the election materials on the basis of the conspiracy theory that fraudulent ballots may have been shipped in from Asia. Seriously — where do they come up with this stuff? What’s next — a search for space dust just in case fraudulent ballots were shipped in from the International Space Station?
