After Arizona Democrats filed a last-minute lawsuit in an effort to halt the Senate GOP-backed audit of Maricopa County’s 2020 election results, presiding Judge Daniel Martin said that he would not be extending a temporary restraining order requested by the state’s Democrats.
“I think this was a very productive and useful hearing. I still have some thinking to do about the requested relief from the plaintiffs. I will do that between now and tomorrow morning,” the Maricopa County Superior Court Judge said.
The currently ongoing audit is examining over 2 million ballots, dozens of electronic tabulators, and other voting equipment used in Maricopa County, Arizona’s largest county.
In the lawsuit, Arizona Democrats claimed that the contractors hired by the state’s Senate were not properly securing the ballots and equipment being inspected.
Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, wrote a letter to Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, calling on him to open a probe into “potential violations of Arizona’s elections laws in connection with the Senate’s ‘audit’ of the Maricopa County election materials.”
In Brnovich’s response letter, he said Hobbs did not provide any facts that would warrant an investigation, adding that her references provide “speculation insufficient to support the request for an official investigation.”
Florida-based cybersecurity firm ‘Cyber Ninjas’ is currently conducting the audit, which Hobbs claims “has no auditing experience, no election experience, and they’re clearly just making this up as they go along.”
In response, Arizona Senate President Karen Fann said that the ballots are locked in cages and protected 24-hours a day by certified security forces while a public live stream of the audit is viewable at all times.
Before the court’s decision on April 27, the Chair of the Arizona Republican Party, Kelli Ward, took to Twitter to question the legitimacy of the Democrat’s lawsuit. “The Democrats are STILL trying to stop the Maricopa County audit and defy the AZ Senate subpoena. What are they hiding? Hearing tomorrow on this ridiculous temporary restraining order,” Ward wrote.
