Top officials in Maricopa County blasted a new report issued by Arizona‘s top prosecutor, stressing that the report offers “no new evidence” that would change the course of the 2020 presidential election.
Bill Gates and Stephen Richer, the chairman for the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors and County Recorder, respectively, essentially cast Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich’s “interim report” as being flawed, according to a joint statement issued Wednesday evening.
“We’ve spent nearly eight months cooperating with the AG’s office,” Gates and Richer said. “Our election professionals have worked day and night to gather the information responsive to both Mr. Brnovich’s civil and criminal inquiries, all while running two safe, secure, and accurate jurisdictional elections during that time period.”
MARICOPA 2020 AUDITORS ‘MADE UP’ NUMBERS, ELECTION ANALYSTS SAY
Brnovich, a Republican who is now running for U.S. Senate, is conducting the investigation upon the request of the GOP-led Arizona Senate, which oversaw a controversial audit of the 2020 election in Maricopa County. Arizona is one of several states won by President Joe Biden but has been subject to claims of fraud by former President Donald Trump and his allies.
Brnovich‘s interim report, sent to the Arizona Senate on Wednesday, claimed there were “serious vulnerabilities” found in the 2020 election in Arizona’s most populous county and noted Maricopa County officials have not been cooperative.
“The Elections Department provided the Attorney General’s Office a list of over 40 staff members that supported signature verification,” the Maricopa County officials said in their statement. “Yet, the calculation in the AG’s letter is based on one staff member working signature verification alone.”
NEW: Joint statement from Chairman @billgatesaz and Recorder @stephen_richer regarding the interim report on 2020 elections from AG. pic.twitter.com/ssNEARG2Fx
— Maricopa County (@maricopacounty) April 7, 2022
The “bottom line,” they said, “the AG has not identified even a single instance where a ballot was accepted with a non-matching signature (or signature that was later cured).”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The report raised enough questions about voter identification, ballot handling, and counting to prompt Brnovich to call for a vast tightening of the rules. It also revealed that he is readying criminal and civil fraud charges against some individuals the attorney general’s Election Integrity Unit has probed.
But Gates and Richer said nothing in the 12-page report should make people doubt or “question the overall health” of the election.
