Grand Canyon Times

Reports of the demise of the Maricopa County audit were premature, according to one former Arizona state official.

“There is still some pretty important backup information forthcoming from Cyber Ninjas," the lead auditing firm, according to the Arizona Senate liaison to the audit, former Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett, in an interview with the Arizona Daily Independent. 

Additional findings could also come from an inspection of routers and other election materials released by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors in a compromise deal with Senate Republicans, who had to issue two rounds of subpoenas for the materials.

Elections analyst Gina Swoboda, executive director of the Voter Reference Foundation (VRF), told the Grand Canyon Times that it was unfortunate that a recount of about 2.1 million votes cast in Maricopa County was included in the audit when findings were turned over to Senate President Karen Fann (R-Prescott) on Sept. 24.

“Most media outlets focused on the recount and the fact that it again showed Biden winning, giving people the impression that the audit was over,” Swoboda said. “A recount isn’t an audit.”

Rather, Swoboda, a former Arizona elections official under two administrations, said an audit is an investigation into how election workers did their jobs, the reliability of the equipment and the maintenance of the voter lists.

“Of these, maintenance of voter lists might be the most important,” she said. “An outdated list becomes the easiest place for fraud.”

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, moreover, has asked the Maricopa County supervisors for additional information in light of the findings released to Fann.

In a letter to county officials dated Sept. 27, Brnovich said that his Elections Integrity Unit has begun a review of the audit report and the materials sent to his office by Senate Republicans.

"In light of our review, as well as the expectation the review may lead to further investigation or litigation, this letter is to provide notice to Maricopa County that a litigation hold should be in effect regarding all potentially relevant materials related to the 2020 general election, as well as potentially relevant materials related to the 2020 primary election and 2020 presidential preference election," the letter states.

“The Arizona Senate’s report that was released Sept. 24 raises some serious questions regarding the 2020 elections,” Brnovich said in a statement released after the letter was sent.