Arizona’s audit of the 2.1 million votes cast in Maricopa County in the 2020 election is in its fourth day. Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs tried to stop the audit and asked the Justice Department to intervene, citing “irregularities,” but was rebuffed by Attorney General Mark Brnovich.
Hobbs wrote a letter to Brnovich on Friday, citing media reports of “security breaches at the audit site” and calling for an investigation into the state Senate’s audit of Maricopa County ballots, saying the audit may have violated Arizona election law.
In a reply letter the same day, Brunovich stated, “I was previously notified of the court’s ruling that the Arizona Senate has broad constitutional and statutory authority to issue legislative subpoenas and therefore conduct an audit of Maricopa County. While you (Hobbs) claim that the State Senate may have violated some election laws, no facts are provided, only a reference to ‘recent reports’.”
“But this does not meet the criteria for a credible allegation, and it is speculation that is insufficient to support a request for a formal investigation. Moreover, in our political system, the division of power requires respect for the co-equal branches of government to conduct their legitimate affairs. Therefore, it is inappropriate to call for an interruption of the audit process simply because someone asserts that it (the audit) could have been handled in other ways.”
He added, “Any such complaint must be based on credible facts, not political speculation. Perhaps one thing we can all recognize in this process is the need to pursue and maintain strong election integrity laws. This (an audit) is necessary to ensure accurate results and to promote public confidence in the election process.”
A constituent echoed Brunovich’s response, “It is only right and fair that the Arizona Attorney General reject the Democrats’ attempts to block the audit and that he clearly rejects political speculation. Let’s just say the Democrats have failed in yet another attempt to stop the audit.”
The audit, initiated under the auspices of the Arizona Senate, had earlier been endorsed by a judge’s ruling. The Senate hired four firms to conduct a full forensic audit of last year’s general election ballots. Everyone can go to Azaudit.org to monitor and watch the entire process of the Arizona audit.
The State Senate also emphasized, “This audit will verify all steps of the voting process. The scope of the audit will include, but is not limited to, scanning of all ballots, a full manual recount, audit of registration and voting, vote counting and electronic voting systems.”
Last Thursday (April 22), just one day before the audit was officially launched, the Arizona Democratic Party had filed an emergency lawsuit to stop the audit, however, as of now, the audit is still going forward.
In a statement, Arizona Republican Party Chairwoman Kelli Ward challenged the Democrats’ lawsuit. She said, “What are the Democrats hiding as they continue to try to block the audit of Maricopa County and defy the Arizona Senate’s subpoena?”
Ward argued that what the Democrats are doing is futile and that “the interference of the judicial branch (courts) in the administration of the audit is an intrusion on the state legislature and therefore it is unconstitutional.”
Recent Comments