Arizona secretary of state says Maricopa County needs new voting machines after Republican audit


In a letter to Maricopa County officials on Thursday, Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs said she has "grave concerns" over the "security and integrity" of voting machines that were turned over to private contractors hired by the Republican-led state Senate to audit the November presidential election.
Using subpoenas, the state Senate was able to get the 2.1 million ballots cast in Maricopa County during the election, as well as voting machines and personal information on voters. They hired the Florida firm Cyber Ninjas, which has no election experience, to run the audit, giving them unmonitored access to everything.
Hobbs said Cyber Ninjas has "failed to provide full transparency into what they did with the equipment," and she finds it alarming that "the chain of custody, a critical security tenet, has been compromised and election officials do not know what was done to the machines while under Cyber Ninjas' control." After speaking with cyber security experts, Hobbs has determined the safest course of action is for the county "not to re-deploy any of the subpoenaed machines that it turned over to the Senate in any future elections."
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.
Maricopa County leases its voting machines from Dominion Voting Systems, and is now in the middle of a three-year, $6.1 million lease agreement, The Arizona Republic reports. Hobbs said considering the "potential impact of decommissioning the subpoenaed equipment, including on taxpayer dollars and county operations, my office did not reach this decision lightly," but her concerns are heavy enough that she believes "the county can agree that this is the only path forward to ensure secure and accurate elections in Maricopa County in the future."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Russia slams Kyiv, hits government building
Speed Read This was Moscow's largest aerial assault since launching its full-scale invasion in 2022
-
China's Xi hosts Modi, Putin, Kim in challenge to US
Speed Read Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and other Asian leaders at an SCO summit
-
Russian strike on Kyiv kills 23, hits EU offices
Speed Read The strike was the second-largest since Russia invaded in 2022
-
UN votes to end Lebanon peacekeeping mission
Speed Read The Trump administration considers the UN's Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) to be a 'waste of money'
-
Israeli double strike on Gaza hospital kills 20
Speed Read The dead include five journalists who worked for The Associated Press, Reuters and Al Jazeera
-
China is silently expanding its influence in American cities
Under the Radar New York City and San Francisco, among others, have reportedly been targeted
-
Kyiv marks independence as Russia downplays peace
Speed Read President Vladimir Putin has no plans to meet with Zelenskyy for peace talks pushed by President Donald Trump
-
Trump halts Gaza visas as Israelis protest war
Speed Read Laura Loomer voiced her concerns over injured Palestinian kids being brought to the US for treatment and a potential 'Islamic invasion'