For months the five members of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors have dug in their collective heels and refused to turn over some items listed in subpoenas related to the State Senate’s election audit.
But with the clock ticking on a threat by Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich to block the release of more than 40 percent of the county’s $1.6 billion general fund revenues, the time has come for a serious decision. That is because Brnovich has the authority to order Arizona Treasurer Kimberly Yee to withhold Maricopa County’s share of state revenues, which county officials admit could be much as $676 million.
On Thursday, the Supervisors conferred in a non-public executive session with their in-house and contracted attorneys to decide whether to finally hand over two items first subpoenaed by the Senate back in January and again in July. Several county officials attended the meeting, including Assessor Eddie Cook, Recorder Stephen Richer, and Sheriff Paul Penzone.
Brnovich has given Maricopa County until Sept. 27 to respond to his opinion that officials are in violation of state law by not fully complying with subpoenas already ruled to be lawful by a judge.
One of the items not yet received by the Senate audit team is the administrative passwords for the Dominion Voting System equipment leased by the county for the 2020 General Election. If the passwords are truly only in possession of Dominion -as the county’s attorneys have argued for months- then it is possible a judge could order the board of supervisors to ask Dominion for the passwords.
Dominion has already told Senate President Karen Fann the company will not comply with any subpoenas for information it considers proprietary.
The second item not yet handed over is the county’s routers. County election officials have insisted the routers were never involved in election counting or election reports, and that providing access to the routers -even virtual copies- would help cyber attackers target the county.
For now, the next informal BOS meeting is set for Sept. 13 with a formal meeting scheduled for Sept. 15.
The subpoenas are not the only outstanding legal dispute between the BOS and the Senate. County officials served a notice of claim on the Senate last month demanding nearly $3 million for the cost of replacing most of the Dominion voting equipment that had been turned over to the Senate’s audit team for inspection.
Maricopa County has entered into a new lease agreement due to concerns that the inspection “damaged, altered or otherwise compromised” the Dominion machines. Senate President Karen Fann has insisted the auditors did not damage or tamper with election equipment, and that county officials “know it.”
