Trucks haul ballot machines to Arizona convention center for Maricopa County election audit by Kaelan Deese,
Semitrucks began hauling voting machines to the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix, Arizona, Wednesday afternoon in preparation for a forensic audit of 2.1 million ballots cast in Maricopa County for the 2020 election.
The trucks arrived on schedule Wednesday for the audit slated to begin on Friday, a product of Arizona’s Republican-controlled Senate fighting for months to conduct a full-scope investigation of ballots cast in the populous county that includes Phoenix, where President Joe Biden won by just over 2% of the popular vote.
Senate President Karen Fann has said the forensic audit would be conducted independently and would be a transparent process aimed at restoring voter confidence after supporters of former President Donald Trump in the state echoed his unsubstantiated claims the election was stolen from him due to widespread fraud.
The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors has already conducted two forensic audits, showing no irregularities in the county’s 2020 general election, and agreed to share the election materials with the GOP-led state Senate after it got a favorable ruling from a judge. Democrats have decried the audit as a “fishing expedition.”
The company’s CEO, Doug Logan, thanked the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors and the Arizona Senate for allowing the audit to take place, saying, “I look forward to showing the media that this process is fully accountable and will yield results the public can have confidence in,” according to a statement obtained by the Washington Examiner.
Logan has reportedly been an active promoter of unsubstantiated “Stop the Steal” claims alleging widespread election fraud in the general election last year.
The Arizona Republican Party announced Wednesday observers for the audit process will be “non-partisan for full transparency,” adding that One America News Network, a right-wing media outlet, will be livestreaming the audit.
But it was reported on Wednesday that members of the press who wish to cover the audit on Friday are required to work a six-hour shift as an observer.
Additionally, to become an observer, a press member is required to submit three letters of recommendation through a sign-up portal, and no photos or note-taking are allowed in the facility beginning Friday, according to a reporter with AZ Mirror, who spoke with former Arizona Senate President and Secretary of State Ken Bennett. Bennett is the liaison of the audit.
A communications firm called the Thompson Group told the Washington Examiner ballots would be arriving at 8 a.m. local time on Thursday, adding that “counting will begin after everything is properly received and in place.” The group also provided nine links to live surveillance feeds of the audit facility.
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