Arizona Senate Republicans say they are close to commencing their own audit of the 2020 election in Maricopa County, nearly three weeks after getting a favorable ruling from a judge.
The majority-Republican state Senate released a readout Thursday afternoon saying further details about the audit would be released soon.
“As thousands of our voters continue to call for a thorough audit of the 2020 election in Maricopa County, I am pleased to report we have narrowed it down to a preferred forensic audit team,” Senate President Karen Fann wrote.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Update on the full, detailed audit of the 2020 election in Maricopa County#AZSenate #Audit pic.twitter.com/0HHfPuGKex
— AZSenateRepublicans (@AZSenateGOP) March 18, 2021
Former President Donald Trump lost Arizona in the general election and in Maricopa County, the largest county in Arizona which includes Phoenix, lost by nearly 43,779 votes. Some supporters of Trump have joined his calls in questioning the results of the 2020 election and demanding investigations to root out potential fraud.
Superior Court judge Timothy Thomason ruled at the end of February, 20 days ago now, that a Senate subpoena of voting records was “legal and enforceable,” though the Senate has yet to commence the audit that Republicans have demanded since December.
The Senate plans to hand count all 2.1 million ballots cast in the county’s Nov. 3 election.
Fann wrote Thursday that she’s identified a “preferred forensic audit team” but did not identify the members.
“We are negotiating final details of the execution of the audit and hope to have an announcement soon,” Fann wrote.
She previously announced an auditing firm was selected in January but later said the Senate was still searching for an independent audit team after it was reported she may hire a Texas-based firm called Allied Security Operations Group, which is aligned with the former president and his legal advisers and did a controversial “forensic audit” in Antrim County, Michigan, criticized by both state officials and Dominion Voting Systems.
Fann wrote the audit will be “broad and detailed,” adding the team will be testing voting machines, scanning ballots, checking for IT breaches, and conducting a full hand recount.
“There will be a full report for the Senate and County to review,” Fann said, noting her team is working closely with the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.
Ballots from the election have been held in storage since the county agreed to the Senate’s demands for conducting an audit.
The county previously conducted two separate forensic audits of the election, inviting officials from the Republican and Democratic parties to observe the process. The audits did not find any compromised machines or evidence of election tampering.
Senate Democrats side with the county’s past audit verification, calling the Republican Senate’s pursuit of an additional audit laughable.
“We never wanted anything to do with that,” said state Sen. Lupe Contreras, the assistant minority leader. “I guess you could say we worked in a bipartisan way since we backed the Board of Supervisors, which is all Republican but one.”
Fann wrote Thursday that Maricopa County constituents “expect this audit, and it can be a big step in returning trust and confidence in our election process.”
The Washington Examiner contacted the Arizona Republican Senate but did not immediately receive a response.
