There’s another twist in the Maricopa County, Arizona, election audit.
A report alleged that there was a significant ballot shortage discovered in Maricopa County.
“We found a ballot shortage, anywhere from 5 to 10 percent of the votes. It looks like a couple hundred thousand ballots are unaccounted for. The ballots are missing,” Josh Barnett, a candidate for Arizona’s 6th Congressional District is quoted as saying.
The report describes Barnett as an audit organizer.
“I also know that there were boxes filled with blank ballots in those pallets. There were blanks in there. They (election officials) were doing it for appearance, to try to hide the fact that ballots are missing by saying, ‘It’s okay, they’re all right here.’ But the ballots are blank,” Barnett said.
Ken Bennett, the former Arizona Republican secretary of state and Arizona Senate liaison, disputed that report and says that is not the case.
“There’s been no such finding yet,” he said.
Randy Pullen, former chairman of the Arizona Republican Party, also disputed the report, calling the claim “crazy.”
Last week, the Arizona Court of Appeals ruled the state Senate must release records from the contractor hired to conduct the review of Maricopa County’s 2020 election.
The Court of Appeals held that documents from Cyber Ninjas, the lead contractor on the Maricopa County audit, are public records, The Hill reported.
“The Senate defendants, as officers and a public body under the (records law), have a duty to maintain and produce public records related to their official duties,” the Appeals Court judges wrote.
“This includes the public records created in connection with the audit of a separate governmental agency, authorized by the legislative branch of state government and performed by the Senate’s agents. … The requested records are no less public records simply because they are in the possession of a third party, Cyber Ninjas,” the judges added in their decision.
The release of the final report on the audit in Maricopa County, Arizona, is being delayed again after three members of the team tested positive for coronavirus.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Statement from Senate President @FannKfann #AZSenate #Audit pic.twitter.com/H7xDHdRiK3
— AZSenateRepublicans (@AZSenateGOP) August 23, 2021
Arizona Republican Party Chairwoman Kelli Ward gave an update last week on the election audit in Maricopa County.
“Now, opponents of the audit are apparently anxious about that report too. They can’t wait. In the last 24 hours Democrat Secretary of State, radical, leftist, progressive, Trump supporter hating Katie Hobbs released what she named a “report on the partisan review of the 2020 general election in Maricopa County”, the media, they dubbed it a prebuttal. In other words, she’s making up stories to misinform and mislead the public, as usual. The ridiculous, ridiculous Maricopa County Recorder, who’s been vocal in his disdain for the audit, put out an open letter to Maricopa County, hilariously pious. Remember, he doesn’t want attention. He wants the office to be boring again, but he did have time to put on makeup and head over to CNN and MSNBC, to avoid any attention. Of course, these fantasies were sent out to their liberal allies in the media and rolled out at the press conference by a supposedly nonpartisan group. I’m sure no sane person read Richard’s 38 Page manifesto and even fewer watched their performance,” Ward said.
“Am I in a time warp here? These opponents are responding to the audit before the report is even been given to the State Senate. Do they have a crystal ball? Can they see into the future? I don’t think so. But what they do have is smoke and mirrors. Hobbs tried to criticize the audit for not having adequate security procedures, but many, many observers praise the audit for how secure it was. It was much greater security than ever existed at the Maricopa County tabulation center. Of course, Hobbs fails to comment on the breach of the Maricopa County election system that occurred shortly before the election. Hey Katie, omissions are also lies,” the chairwoman said.
“The Maricopa county recorders, open letter. Oh, it is as sad, a communication as I’ve ever seen, that has come from an elected official. It’s filled with numerous woe is me anecdotes, and undeserved, unfounded, and even egregious attacks on audit contractors. ironically, there is a section titled, “I was never anti audit.” OMG, he’s a comedian. Actions speak louder than words Stevie. This county recorder has tried to hinder the audit at every step of the way. It’s embarrassing he’s a Republican. Responding ahead of time to a report that has yet to be filed is not responsible governing. These two sets of documents were very, very long, lengthy and they were released at the same time. This is not a response to the audit. It is a naked attempt to control the narrative,” she said.
https://twitter.com/AZGOP/status/1428951794776887298?s=20
This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
