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There has finally been an agreement reached in the saga of the 2020 election audit in Arizona.
The state Senate and Maricopa County officials have reached a settlement on the election audit subpoena, ABC 15 reported.
On late afternoon Friday Chairman Jack Sellers announced the settlement with Senate President Karen Fann.
In the settlement, Maricopa County will not seek to recoup the $2.8 million cost of replacing election equipment that Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs (D) said she will not re-certify on the advice of federal security officials since the equipment left the custody of county election officials.
In turn, the Senate will drop their subpoena issued on July 26 in which they sought the county’s routers, network logs and voter registration database.
A special intermediary will be appointed by the county to work with the state senate to answer questions they may have about the county’s networking equipment and how they were used in the election as well as upcoming elections.
“This agreement is a step in the right direction to putting this nonsense behind us,” Chairman Jack Sellers said. “The Cyber Ninjas will never be able to touch the routers or access our data. An independent third party can confirm what we’ve always said: the election equipment was not connected to the internet and no vote switching occurred. And our residents, law enforcement, and courts can all rest assured that their data and equipment are protected.”
Maricopa County issued a press release after the agreement was made in which it did not appear to be particularly enamored with the decision.
“While the County disagrees with that finding, litigation always comes with risk. County leaders determined they would not be able to do the people’s work in either worst-case scenario—whether the County is forced to turn over routers directly to the Senate, or if nearly $700 million in revenue was withheld,” it said.
“The agreement with the Senate comes with a provision that the Senate President write a letter to the Attorney General stating the County has now fully complied with the Senate’s outstanding subpoenas and that further action is not warranted,” it said.
But the Arizona State Senate Republican Caucus declared victory.
“Under threat of losing hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue sharing, today Maricopa County settled with the State Senate, in a victory for election integrity and the Arizona taxpayer. The agreement sets up a Special Master paid for by the County, who will get the answers to questions the Senate has had concerning the routers and splunk logs used in the 2020 election. Former Congressman John Shadegg will serve as the Special Master, working with computer technology experts. The Senate will finally get the answers to questions asked for in subpoenas issued to the County months ago,” it said.
“In addition, the County has agreed to drop its notice of claim of $2.8 million to replace election equipment delivered to the Senate as required in the January subpoena. Experts have told us there is nothing that has been compromised or damaged by the audit, and the Secretary of State failed to follow procedures regarding decertifying the machines. There is no reason taxpayers should be on the hook for purchasing unnecessary new election equipment.
“I look forward to getting our final questions answered and wrapping up the review of the election in Maricopa County,” it said.
State Sen. Fann also declared victory in a tweet.
“HUGE win for the Az Senate today! Maricopa settlement gives us all the data needed to complete the review of the routers & splunk log to the most comprehensive election audit in history. We got everything we need and more. Maricopa County goes home with its tail between its legs,” she said.
HUGE win for the Az Senate today! Maricopa settlement gives us all the data needed to complete the review of the routers & splunk log to the most comprehensive election audit in history. We got everything we need and more. Maricopa County goes home with its tail between its legs
— Karen Fann (@FannKfann) September 18, 2021
