AZ Auditors Reach Key Milestone with 1 Million Ballots Reviewed, Expect to Finish by End of Month
The audit commissioned by the Arizona state Senate of Maricopa County’s general election reached a significant milestone last week with over 1 million ballots hand-counted and reviewed.
Auditors expect to be finished with the ballot count by the end of June.
“Great election audit news! We surpassed counting 50% of the Maricopa ballots last week. The audit continues!” the audit team tweeted on Monday.
Great election audit news! We surpassed counting 50% of the Maricopa ballots last week. The audit continues!
— Maricopa Arizona Audit (@ArizonaAudit) May 31, 2021
Auditors also said a third shift has been added thanks to volunteers stepping up.
Update: The third shift of the Maricopa election audit starts on June 1st. Thank you to our AZ volunteers!
— Maricopa Arizona Audit (@ArizonaAudit) May 31, 2021
Approximately 2.1 million ballots were cast in Maricopa County (which encompasses the Phoenix metropolitan area) in November’s general election.
President Joe Biden won by 0.3 percent — approximately 10,500 votes — over former President Donald Trump.
That was the closest margin of any of the swing states that went for Biden.
Maricopa was the only county in Arizona to flip from red to blue in the 2020 presidential race.
Despite Biden’s victory, Republicans carried every countywide office in Maricopa, save for sheriff (which was held by an incumbent Democrat).
Arizona Republican Party Chairwoman Kelli Ward — who is not involved with the audit, but is closely monitoring it — reported in a video posted on Monday that auditors are estimating they will be finished by late June.
We honor and give our thanks and prayers today to those who died in uniform serving our nation and their families who sacrificed so much for our freedom. America’s Audit in good hands. AZGOP Chairwoman @kelliwardaz reports 1 million ballots counted #AZAUDIT #AMERICASAUDIT pic.twitter.com/D634eNyAWV
— Arizona Republican Party (@AZGOP) June 1, 2021
“We also know there has been additional discussion among the Arizona Senate and the auditors regarding the possibility of hiring a California-based election transparency group called Citizens Oversight to run an entirely electronic recount of digital images of ballots to count all votes cast for every single race on the county’s ballots,” Ward said.
“These totals could be used in every race to compare totals with official totals for Maricopa County and from the audit itself,” she added.
Ward encouraged people to ignore the torrent of negative media coverage and complaints the audit has generated.
“Don’t be fooled by their propaganda and lies,” she said. “America’s audit is in good shape and proceeding responsibly, professionally, efficiently, effectively and on time.”
Democratic Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs and Republican Maricopa Board of Supervisors Chairman Jack Sellers have been among the most outspoken critics of the audit.
Hobbs has referred to the undertaking as the “fraudit” in tweets and wrote in an Op-Ed published last week that it is “a political stunt that has only served to cast doubt on the integrity of our elections.”
The secretary of state has also suggested that any findings the audit team produces will not be valid.
“Our state conducted the most secure election in history,” said Hobbs, who on Wednesday announced her candidacy for Arizona governor in the 2022 contest.
Morning! I’m your pool reporter today. I took some time away this weekend so I’m trying to get all caught up and will report back soon! #azauditpool pic.twitter.com/lqoc31ZEwU
— Jen Fifield (@JenAFifield) June 1, 2021
Sellers has been equally harsh in his assessment of the audit.
“I will not be responding to any more requests from this sham process. Finish what you’re calling an audit and be ready to defend a report in a court of law,” he pronounced at the conclusion of a Board of Supervisors meeting last month.
Like Hobbs, Sellers and the board certified the election results in late November.
Trump has commended the Arizona Senate for the audit.
“Arizona Republican State Senators are engendering such tremendous respect, even adoration, for the great job they are doing on the Forensic Audit of the 2020 Presidential Election Scam,” he said.
Republican lawmakers from Pennsylvania reportedly plan to travel this week to Arizona to meet with state representatives and tour the site of the Maricopa County general election audit.
This article appeared originally on Patriot Project.
Watch the full Senate hearing on the Arizona audit here.
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