A judge cast doubt on the future of a Republican-backed 2020 election audit in Maricopa County that Democrats are trying to shut down through a legal challenge raising concerns about adherence to state election laws and regulations.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Daniel Martin, who was assigned to the case on Monday after the first judge recused himself, said that he has some reservations about the review process but needs to hear more during a hearing set for Wednesday.
“I will share with you all, I am not yet persuaded that there has been a showing that the rights of the voters in Maricopa County are being protected,” Martin said during a lengthy hearing on Tuesday. “And I think we will touch on this tomorrow when we address the policies and procedures and whether or not they can be withheld from public view.”
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The Arizona Democratic Party and Maricopa County Supervisor Steve Gallardo, the sole Democrat on the board, sued last week to stop the GOP-led Arizona Senate’s audit, which is being led by Cyber Ninjas, a Florida-based consulting firm, and will include 2.1 million ballots cast, a forensic audit of the voting machines, and follow-up interviews with voters.
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Attorneys for the Senate and Cyber Ninjas, whose CEO, Doug Logan, has been subject to scrutiny over his promotion of voter fraud allegations and “Stop the Steal” posts on social media, argue that state election regulations don’t apply to the Legislature and the audit and are asking the court to keep the audit’s methods under seal as trade secrets.
But Martin appeared to disagree with the immunity argument.
“The manner in which that audit is being conducted must be balanced against the constitutional rights of the voters in Maricopa County, including the rights to secrecy and confidentiality of information,” he said.
The judge who recused himself, Christopher Coury, ordered a temporary halt on Friday of the audit that was supposed to span over the weekend, but the Democrats refused to pay a $1 million bond, and so far, the review has been able to proceed as planned.
The state Senate has possession of Veterans Memorial Coliseum only through May 14, and Alexander Kolodin, an attorney who represents Cyber Ninjas, told the judge that an injunction against the proceedings “may derail this audit,” according to the Arizona Capitol Times.
But people involved in the audit stressed to reporters on Tuesday that they believe the audit will be completed by that time.
Former President Donald Trump has fixated on the audit, releasing multiple tweemails, and on Tuesday insisted it will show Arizona was a “scam election” state.
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The audit will not change the results of the presidential election, as officials in the state have already certified President Joe Biden’s victory, but Arizona Senate President Karen Fann insisted in a radio interview that the audit is meant to restore trust in the system and influence potential changes to the law.
“When you’ve got half of the people that do not trust the electoral system anymore, rightly or wrongly so, if they have questions, who is responsible for answering these questions? How do we put election integrity back into our system? And that’s only what this has been about,” she said.
