Grand Canyon Times

The Arizona Senate has hired an independent forensic auditor to review the November election in Maricopa County.

State Senate President Karen Fann stresses the need to conduct an audit.

“We must bring back confidence that the election results reported are how votes were legally cast,” Fann said in a statement. “The Senate's forensic audit will bring accuracy and detail to the process, and with that restore integrity to the election process."

In December, the county received a subpoena from the state Senate requesting access to the materials used during the election including the copies of ballots, but it refused the senate’s request.

While the county repeatedly assured that the election was administered with integrity, hiring two independent firms has been unanimously voted by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.

Fann said that the senate's auditor will be able to exactly carry out what they requested in the subpoena.

"There are two primary reasons we have determined the Senate needed to retain its own independent auditing firm,” Fann said. “The Senate has consistently called for an auditor certified by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC). We have now learned the EAC does not certify auditors as such. The other primary reason is that the scope of the audit must be broader than the one proposed by the county's vendors. Our firm will perform everything we have required in the subpoenas.”