Ask PolitiFact: How come Arizona Republicans auditing election results?

Nearly six months after Arizona voted for Joe Biden, Republicans are going after an audit of election leads to Maricopa County, fueling ongoing conspiracies concerning the presidential election.

Republicans who organized the audit of two.a million ballots acknowledge that it’ll don’t have any effect on the 2020 election results. The outcomes were certified by condition officials and recognized by Congress.

However the audit will have a broader effect on the democratic process. The condition is just about the latest battleground where former President Jesse Trump and the allies have spread the groundless allegation the election was stolen by Democrats. Maricopa County, the place to find Phoenix, has got the largest quantity of registered voters within the condition. 

Trump, banned from his once-preferred communication platform of Twitter, continues to be cheering around the audit through statements emailed to reporters through his Save America PAC.

The audit, that has brought to legal challenges and battles over media access, raises the chance that partisan-driven audits or recounts turn into a brand new strategy later on elections beyond Arizona.

Election experts plus some election officials in other states have belittled the audit. 

“This ‘audit’ in Arizona is yet another part of undermining confidence in elections,” tweeted Gabriel Sterling, a Republican election official in Georgia who batted lower false election claims by Trump. “This method is neither transparent nor, likely, legal. Any ‘findings’ is going to be highly suspect since the chain of child custody continues to be violated by partisan actors.”

Here’s why the audit is going on, who’s involved and just what everything means. 

Who began the audit and why?

Biden won Arizona by about 10,000 votes, flipping the condition after Trump’s win in 2016.

Idol judges rejected lawsuits with respect to Republicans trying to halt certification from the election or alleging wrongdoing. Maricopa County conducted a hands count audit of the sample of ballots as needed by condition law and hired independent firms to conduct a forensic audit of tabulation equipment. The county found no abnormalities. 

But Republican condition senators desired to do their very own full audit of Maricopa. (Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, who stoked Trump’s ire by certifying the outcomes, wasn’t involved.)

“If you have got half the folks that don’t trust the electoral system any longer — appropriately or wrongly so — should they have questions, who accounts for answering these questions? How can we put election integrity back to our bodies,” Senate President Karen Fann told KTAR News. “And that’s only what it has been about.”

In December, Arizona condition Senate Republicans sent subpoenas to Maricopa County seeking pictures of the ballots and election equipment, along with a judge ruled within their favor. 

Senate Republicans hired a group including Cyber Ninjas, a Florida-based technology company missing election audit experience. Cyber Ninjas is headed up by Doug Logan, who had been area of the “steer clear of the steal” conspiracy theories concerning the election that culminated within the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.

Who’s having to pay for that audit?

Condition Senate Republicans decided to pay Cyber Ninjas $150,000. The firm may also obtain money from additional sources. Christina Bobb, who works for the best-wing One America News Network, that has aired falsehoods concerning the 2020 election, tweeted April 9 that they launched a business to boost money for that audit. Later within 24 hours, she announced the effort had elevated $150,000. OAN generate a livestream from the audit in the Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Exactly what do we know of the results to date?

Very little. The audit wasn’t established to be transparent.

Journalists initially had to try to get access as observers. Arizona Republic reporter Jen Fifield acquired access being an observer on April 23 and tweeted that they needed to follow certain rules, for example taking no notes. Other reporters put on be observers, but Fifield told PolitiFact she was the only person who had been granted access.

Fifield told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow that they had her phone inside a locker outdoors the counting room and may utilize it to file for updates when she required breaks. But in the middle of her shift, she stated, she was banned from posting updates.

The Arizona Broadcasters Association, the Arizona Republic and also the Arizona Mirror negotiated having a lawyer for that Republicans to setup a pool rotation for journalists permitting a reporter, professional photographer and videographer. Journalists are stationed inside a press box about 10 rows up in the floor and may now tweet updates — and therefore are doing this while using Twitter hashtag #azauditpool.

A reporter watches the Maricopa County ballots being examined and recounted at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix, April 29, 2021. (Arizona Republic via AP) 

The court ruled that Cyber Ninjas couldn’t keep its procedures and policies secret, resulting in the discharge of approximately 200 pages of materials towards the court. 

The documents provide some good info concerning the process, including it demonstrated auditors were searching for folds within the ballots and analyzing ballots with ultraviolet light.

Tammy Patrick, an elections expert in the Democracy Fund, stated a few of the steps don’t participate in standard audit procedures.

“Whatever they do with Ultra violet lights and whether a ballot folded or kind of ink used, none of individuals situations are regular areas of audits and here’s why: it informs you nothing,” stated Patrick, an old federal compliance officer for Maricopa County Elections Department, along with a Democrat. “They’re making assumptions on every of individuals things as though it might be an indication of fraud or malfeasance or problems.”

Patrick stated the audit is “perpetuating this misunderstanding there was anything wrong with last year’s election. There wasn’t any fraud found.”

Exactly what do election experts say concerning the audit?

Ken Bennett, Arizona’s former secretary of condition along with a liaison for that Senate Republicans, told PolitiFact that the objective of the audit would be to determine whether it is possible to improve approaches for future elections.

But experts say there’s danger inside a partisan-run audit orchestrated with a political party.

Chris DeRose, a Republican election law attorney, authored within an opinion piece within the Washington Publish that there wasn’t any need to question Arizona’s election results which representatives all parties were permitted to look at all the election process. DeRose, an old clerk from the Superior Court for Maricopa County, authored that not good may come from the audit.

“How could anybody expect a partisan tactic to yield an effect better and reliable compared to one administered by professionals of parties following established rules?” DeRose authored. “If you are a Republican who supports this audit, think about this: When the Democrats had lost, how does one feel if the was their response?”

Trey Grayson, an old Kentucky secretary of condition along with a Republican, stated the audit is really a “disservice to democracy.”

“My worry about this ‘audit’ is it does not matter its results, I doubt that it’ll increase anyone’s confidence within the election outcome, and, actually, is more prone to harden the views of individuals missing confidence,” Grayson told PolitiFact. “In the end, the count will probably vary due to the insufficient rules, training and transparency. Just how could anybody feel positive about its finding?

“And when the figures vary, some might conclude they simply can’t trust an election outcome — although the inconsistency is entirely the responsibility of an ill-created and poorly performed audit.”

When will the audit finish?

The audit is anticipated to interrupt in mid-May to support graduation events in the coliseum. News reports indicate the counters make a dent within the ballots, but the great majority remain.

Bennett told PolitiFact the audit might take as many as 60 to 3 months, which may mean it might last potentially until This summer.

“No findings are now being released once we go,” Bennett told PolitiFact. “It will likely be area of the final are accountable to the Senate.”

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