Arizona Republicans combat again towards election fraud claims – KIRO 7 Information Seattle

PHOENIX – (AP) – Top Republicans in Arizona’s largest county passionately defended their handling of Monday 2020 elections, calling on GOP colleagues and business leaders to oppose an unprecedented scrutiny of the partisan elections.

The GOP-dominated Maricopa County regulator has ruled the exam a fraud beyond the control of the Senate Chairman who allegedly oversees it. Chief Executive Officer Jack Sellers said Senate President Karen Fann was “attempting to legitimize a grip disguised as an exam.”

After former President Donald Trump claimed without evidence that his loss was compromised by fraud, Fann used the Senate’s subpoena to seize ballots and voting machines from Maricopa County, a long-standing Republican stronghold that Democrat Joe Biden owned last year had won. She turned everything over to Cyber ​​Ninjas, a small Florida-based cybersecurity firm owned by a Trump supporter who promoted election conspiracies, to conduct an audit along with several subcontractors.

Last week, Fann sent a letter to Sellers questioning records documenting the custody chain for the ballot papers and accusing district officials of deleting data. The district sent a 12-page response on Monday in which it vehemently denied the wrongdoing, explained its processes and accused cyber ninjas of incompetence.

“They can’t find the files because they don’t know what they’re doing,” Sellers said during a public meeting to refute Fann’s claims. Qualified reviewers were hired for the work. “

Fann didn’t immediately comment, but instead posted a tweet saying the media received the county’s letter before it was. She said the test is an attempt to address the concerns of many Trump supporters who fear the elections were not conducted fairly and to see if lawmakers should change electoral laws.

Fann’s allegations struck a nerve with the district officials, who were increasingly angry about the exam. They said they would not appear in the Senate on Tuesday as requested by Fann to answer questions and would not give in to Fann’s calls for the county internet routers, which government officials said would compromise sensitive data unrelated to elections .

Fann has also requested an administrator password for vote counting machines, but district officials say these are maintained by the system’s maker, Dominion Voting Systems Inc., who state that they will only give such access to certified voting providers. None of the companies involved in the test are certified.

On Monday, the county Republicans threatened to sue if senators or accountants accuse them of breaking the law. And they begged elected officials who have doubts about the test not to keep their criticism to themselves.

“Elected Republicans, I believe, are afraid of the next election, and neither can they,” said Bill Gates, vice chairman of the board of directors. “You have to stand for what is right. Why else did they even apply for office? “

He later complained about the silence of business leaders and asked them to “contact the elected officials to whom they are donating money”.

“This creates a black eye for Arizona and I would think these business leaders want this to stop,” said Gates.

District officials also highlighted the backlash they experienced while speaking, including death threats and protests in their homes.

The audit, which is heavily promoted in the right-wing media, has become a special event among some of Trump’s most loyal fans. They believe it will uncover evidence of the former president’s claim that he is the rightful election winner.

Trump sent a statement saying in part that “the entire Maricopa County database in Arizona has been DELETED! This is illegal and the Arizona State Senate, which leads the forensic audit, is in the arms. “

Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, one of the county’s top electoral officials, called the statement “awkward” on Saturday and urged other Republicans to stop the baseless allegations.

Richer was elected in the same election that many in his party are now questioning, defeating an incumbent Democrat. As a recorder, it oversees the voter registration database and the postal voting process, including signature verification, while the county board oversees the team in charge of election day operations and ballot counting.

On Monday he said he hoped he and other district officials would make it easier for others to speak out against the tale of electoral fraud.

“We’re out here now. We have moved, ”said Richer. “I think you will see others join in. The water is warm. Come in.”