Maricopa County Elected Leaders Call for End to Senate/Cyber Ninja Election Audit

ARIZONA -- PRESS RELEASE May May 17, 2021: Maricopa County Government At a special public meeting today, the Maricopa

County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a written response to allegations made by Arizona Senate President Karen Fann regarding the Senate’s audit of Maricopa County 2020 General Election ballots and equipment.  Showing a united front, board members along with Recorder Stephen Richer, Sheriff Paul Penzone, Treasurer John Allen, Assessor Eddie Cook, and Superintendent Steve Watson signed a letter, which refutes false claims and calls on Fann to immediately end the audit.

“As elected leaders from different political parties, we are all united at Maricopa County.  The accusations from the Senate President are deeply offensive and this letter will be the last time we respond to requests from this sham process,” said Chairman Jack Sellers, District 1.  “To the Senate, we say: finish what you're calling an audit and be ready to defend your report in a court of law."

“This is a group that chooses to do what’s right not what’s easy,” said Vice Chairman Bill Gates, District 3.  “It would have been easy to stay silent.  Instead, we are speaking up today on behalf of the truth: the 2020 election was run with integrity by dedicated public servants.  The results were accurate.  The Big Lie needs to stop.”

“I supported an audit.  I didn’t support a mockery, which is what this has become,” said Supervisor Steve Chucri, District 2.  “We have too much to do on behalf of the County to keep responding to every rumor out there.  I think this letter sets us on a path forward to putting this audit behind us.”

“We are doing the best we can as publicly elected officials. We ran a bipartisan fair election. That's every piece of evidence I've ever seen put in front of us,” said Supervisor Clint Hickman, District 4. “We are operating on facts, evidence, and rule of law.  That is why we certified this election.”

“It has been 195 days of the same lies,” said Supervisor Steve Gallardo, District 5.  “People who didn’t like the results have been throwing out every conspiracy and rumor and somehow the Senate is taking it all seriously.  I ask Senator Fann to show some political courage and get these unqualified firms away from the people’s ballots and election equipment.”

The Arizona Senate commanded the County to turn over all election equipment, ballots and other election materials through a subpoena. A court ruled that the subpoena was valid, and the county turned over nearly 2.1 million ballots, 385 Election Day tabulators, 9 central count tabulators, and over 8 terabytes of data including tabulator logs, voter records, clones of servers and images of early ballot affidavits and ballot images.  The Senate provided those election materials to a private company called Cyber Ninjas.

In the signed letter to Senator Fann, Maricopa County elected leaders close by saying:

“Regardless of your intentions when you decided to subpoena our equipment and ballots, this cannot really be what you envisioned. You, Senate President Fann, are the only one with the power to immediately end it. We implore you to recognize the obvious truth: your “auditors” are in way over their heads. They do not have the experience necessary to conduct an audit of an election. They do not know the laws, nor the procedures, nor the best practices. It is inevitable that they will arrive at questionable conclusions.

It is time to end this. For the good of the Senate, for the good of the Country and for the good of the Democratic institutions that define us as Americans.”