Liberal Groups Call for DOJ To Step Into AZ Election Audit Following Dem Court Losses
Representatives from three liberal groups are calling on the Justice Department to send federal monitors to the Arizona Senate audit of Maricopa County’s 2020 election. On April 23, the audit of the county’s 2.1 million…
Representatives from three liberal groups are calling on the Justice Department to send federal monitors to the Arizona Senate audit of Maricopa County’s 2020 election.
On April 23, the audit of the county’s 2.1 million ballots began in Phoenix despite an 11th-hour legal bid by the Arizona Democratic Party to put an injunction in place.
Democrats chose not to post a $1 million bond to cover the costs of halting the audit, which is being conducted by four companies and headed by Cyber Ninjas, contracted by the Arizona Senate.
On Wednesday, an Arizona judge declined to halt the audit based on allegations by the Arizona Democratic Party that Senate Republicans do not have proper procedures in place to ensure the security of the ballots.
Democrats also called into question the independence of the companies conducting it.
On Thursday, the Brennan Center, Protect Democracy and The Leadership Conference sent a joint letter to DOJ’s Civil Rights Division calling for monitors to the audit location.
“We are very concerned that the auditors are engaged in ongoing and imminent violations of federal voting and election laws,” the letter reads, in part.
“Specifically, we believe that the senate and its agents, including Cyber Ninjas, are 1) violating their duty under federal law to retain and preserve ballots cast in a federal election, which are and have been in danger of being stolen, defaced, or irretrievably damaged, and 2) preparing to engage in conduct which will constitute unlawful voter intimidation in violation of the Voting Rights Act and other federal laws.”