Arizona Republicans are once again recounting 2020 ballots in the county that lost Trump Arizona


Arizona's Republican-led Senate in December subpoenaed all 2.1 million ballots from the state's most populous county, plus its voting machines and computer hard drives, for yet another review of November's presidential and U.S. Senate elections. The Maricopa Board of Supervisors, with four Republicans and one Democrat, refused to hand over the materials without a court order, citing privacy concerns, multiple voting machine audits already conducted, and a hand recount of significant ballot samples that affirmed President Biden's victory in the state. A county court upheld the Senate's subpoena Feb. 27.
State Senate Republicans took control of the ballots, voting machines, and hard drives, then "handed the materials over to Cyber Ninjas, a Florida-based consultancy with no election experience run by a man who has shared unfounded conspiracy theories claiming the official 2020 presidential election results are illegitimate," The Associated Press reports. The audit, which got off to a shaky start on Friday, "has become a snipe hunt for skulduggery that has spanned a court battle, death threats, and calls to arrest the elected leadership of Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix," The New York Times reports.
GOP senators acknowledge that the audit, covering two-thirds of votes cast in Arizona, won't change the election outcome. "Critics in both parties charge that an effort that began as a way to placate angry Trump voters has become a political embarrassment and another blow to the once-inviolable democratic norm that losers and winners alike honor the results of elections," the Times says.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The Arizona Democratic Party and Maricopa County's lone Democratic supervisor sued to stop the audit, arguing it violates state election laws. A judge on Friday ordered Cyber Ninjas to tell the court how it plans to conduct its audit and train volunteer ballot counters. Cyber Ninjas on Sunday asked the judge to keep its recount process secret, citing trade secrets.
Republicans aren't allowing the media to observe the recount, and Cyber Ninjas owner Doug Logan won't disclose who's funding it, conceding only that it will cost more than the $150,000 allocated by the Senate. One American News Network, a far-right cable network openly supportive of former President Donald Trump and his baseless vote-fraud conspiracies, "has raised money from unknown contributors for the project, and the money goes directly to Cyber Ninjas," AP reports. OAN, the Times adds, has also "been named one of the nonpartisan observers that will keep the audit on the straight and narrow."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
August 8 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Friday's political cartoons include a Greenland rebrand, a presidential eye test, and creeping inflation
-
Who owns Gaza? Israel's occupation plans
The Explainer Egypt, Israel and Britain have ruled the beleaguered territory
-
Savages: a tragi-comedy set in a 'quirky handcrafted world'
The Week Recommends This new animated film by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Claude Barras is undeniably political, but it has a hopeful message
-
How China uses 'dark fleets' to circumvent trade sanctions
The Explainer The fleets are used to smuggle goods like oil and fish
-
Thailand, Cambodia agree to ceasefire in border fight
Speed Read At least 38 people were killed and more than 300,000 displaced in the recent violence
-
Israel 'pauses' Gaza military activity as aid outcry grows
Speed Read The World Health Organization said malnutrition has reached 'alarming levels' in Gaza
-
US and EU reach trade deal
Speed Read Trump's meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen resulted in a tariff agreement that will avert a transatlantic trade war
-
At least 12 dead in Thai-Cambodian clashes
Speed Read Both countries accused the other of firing first
-
US and Japan strike trade deal
Speed Read Trump signed what he's calling the 'largest deal ever made'
-
28 nations condemn Israel's 'inhumane killing' in Gaza
Speed Read Countries including Australia, France, Japan and the U.K. have released a joint statement condemning Israel's ongoing attacks
-
Israeli gunfire kills dozens at Gaza aid site
Speed Read The U.N. estimates that at least 875 Palestinians have died while trying to access food in recent months