The struggle over whether or not the Arizona Republican Party should perform an audit of its January 23rd election appears to be moving to a new phase, as numerous AZGOP Executive Committee members have been receiving calls and have been lobbied both for and against calling for a new vote.
With AZGOP Chairwoman Kelli Ward refusing to allow an audit, in spite of what audit supporters believe to be clear instructions in the party’s bylaws, there may not be another option available to those in the party who want this matter properly settled, except to force a new election.
“Ward doesn’t feel bound by the bylaw allowing for an audit and the only thing that members can do is to call a special meeting, which can’t be to do an audit. You can’t have a special meeting for the purpose of an audit.” explained one State Committeeman. “What you can do is call a fresh election and then allow for any audits after that one, so no matter who wins, the party’s voters will be able to confirm everything was done right.”
Proponents and opponents have been making their case, leaving some Executive Committee members feeling besieged by the whole situation. We attempted to contact several members via text or email, but only one responded, and that was to simply write “No Comment.”
“I feel bad for the committee members,” wrote a Committeewoman, “they are in a tough spot where they either vote for election integrity, but that means another month of drama, or against the drama, but that means protecting an election that was so badly done that Ward and (National Committeeman Tyler) Bowyer and their people are desperate to not let anyone see the election records or ballots. That’s a rough way to start a year.”
There is no deadline for making such a request, but it will require the support of 40% of the State Executive Committee, which some feel is too high of a bar given the loyalty of some Ward supporters on the committee. Should they succeed in getting enough signers, the meeting would be at least 30 days after that, meaning late-March, at the earliest, before the AZGOP can put this mini-crisis to rest.