Monday marks the resumption in hand count activities in the Senate’s audit of Maricopa County’s election, and while operations will look the same on the floor of Veterans Memorial Coliseum there is a lot happening behind the scenes.
Hundreds of volunteers and temporary workers are expected to arrive at the Coliseum throughout the day to tackle 1.6 million of the 2.1 million ballots cast in the 2020 General Election that remain uncounted. Senate Audit Liaison Ken Bennett says he is not aware of any logistical or procedural changes being made to the hand count process, which is expected to run through the end of June.
Bennett told Arizona Daily Independent on Sunday that he will rely more on several assistants as audit activities ramp up. This includes Randy Pullen, a former chairperson of the Arizona Republican Party, who will be handling media access arrangements. The additional help is necessary in part because Maricopa County officials are still refusing to directly communicate with the auditors, putting more burden on Bennett’s time.
Meanwhile, those involved in the running the audit will likely spend time this week ensuring they are in compliance with a May 21 demand from Maricopa County Attorney Allister Adel that Senate President Karen Fann, Bennett, and others keep unaltered copies of records connected to the audit.
The letter, also known as a pre-litigation preservation of evidence notice, demands the retention and protection of the records, including any audit-related communications between Fann and other members of the Senate or their staffs, as well as communications between Fann and her agents, including Bennett, audit contractors Cyber Ninjas, CyFIR, and Wake TSI “and those firms’ various owners, officers, employees, agents, subcontractors, or volunteers” about the audit.
Adel’s notice suggests legal action could be taken against some or all of the audit officials due to recent statements by Senate and audit officials. That same day, former Gov. Jan Brewer suggested Fann shut down the audit.
“I think they should call it quits. It’s not going to serve any purpose,” said Brewer, a Republican.
The next day, former President Donald Trump took a swipe at Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, who like Gov. Doug Ducey has maintained a hands off approach to the audit, which a judge ruled in February is a legitimate legislative activity.
Trump referred to Brnovich as “the lackluster Attorney General of Arizona” and called on him to “to get on the ball and catch up with the great Republican Patriots” in the state Senate. “He is always on television promoting himself, but never mentions the Crime of the Century, that took place during the 2020 Presidential Election, which was Rigged and Stolen,” Trump wrote.
This week should also bring clarification from Secretary of State Katie Hobbs of comments that her office will not recertify Maricopa County’s election tabulators for future use. Those tabulators were reviewed by the senate’s auditors, which Hobbs suggested may have made it impossible to have confidence in any recertification.
Sen. Warren Petersen, chair of the Judiciary Committee, pushed back on Hobbs’ suggestion that the tabulators may not be able to be put back into service. Maricopa County officials are suggesting decertification could cost taxpayers up to $6 million, although that claim was not supported by documentation.
The question about who is controlling the Audit’s Twitter account was clarified by Bennett on Sunday. He said all tweets will be approved by a group of audit officials. However, he had no information about when -and by whom- information might be released related to the more than $1.7 million purportedly donated by various persons to help pay for the audit.