Dems: End the Madness and Protect Our Elections from Conspiracy Theorists

Yesterday morning a judge ordered the Senate and its “Fraudit” team to comply with all laws governing the right to a secret ballot and the confidentiality of voter registration data. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Christopher Coury ordered the Senate and its audit team to comply with all laws governing the right to a secret ballot and the confidentiality of voter registration data.

The judge also ordered that the auditors use only red pens on the audit floor, an issue that came up after an Arizona Republic reporter who’s working as a volunteer observer noted that the auditors were using blue pens, which could irrevocably harm ballots.

“Today’s hearing showed how unprepared Senate President Karen Fann and her ‘audit’ team, Cyber Ninjas, truly are. We heard the Cyber Ninjas’ own attorney admit that blue pens, which, unlike red pens, are capable of making machine-readable marks that permanently alter already cast ballots, were distributed to volunteers and staff in violation of Arizona law*,” said Arizona Democratic Party Chair, Raquel Terán.

“The revelation of the blue pens was pointed out by local reporter Jen Fifield. This kind of discovery is exactly why reporters should be allowed to have free access to every step of this process, as is usually the case during legitimate audits.

The requested temporary restraining order required that the Cyber Ninjas turn over all documents regarding their internal procedures, which should have been made immediately available to the public if this were a transparent or credible process.

“We are looking forward to the first actual explanation of their procedures and we sincerely hope that these documents are in keeping with best practices as has been demanded by the Arizona Secretary of State,” Teran said.

Funds from conspiracy wackos

Cyber Ninja’s CEO, Doug Logan, is a proud supporter of the “Stop the Steal” movement and has retweeted numerous posts on Twitter claiming that the 2020 General Election was rigged against Donald Trump, according to the Democrats’ lawsuit. He also “drafted a document for U.S. senators who planned to object to the certification of the election results on Jan. 6, promoting various disproven or baseless conspiracy theories about the election, including claims against the company whose ballot tabulation machines he’ll [be] tasked with inspecting.” And his activities post-retention by the Arizona Senate make clear that he has no relevant experience.“

“Finally, the lack of transparency from President Fann and the Cyber Ninjas as to the actual cost of the audit makes the question of posting a $1 million bond laughable. The Arizona Democratic Party will not risk our supporters’ hard-earned dollars to pay off the Cyber Ninjas for a procedure they are billing Arizona taxpayers to the tune of $150,000 and fundraising on OAN with the help of Lin Wood, an election conspiracy theorist who called for the execution of former Vice President Mike Pence. The fact of the matter is that no one knows the actual cost of this sham audit and President Fann and the Cyber Ninjas have not once made this figure public.

“We are calling on Governor Doug Ducey and Attorney General Mark Brnovich to put an end to this madness and protect our election systems from conspiracy theorists.”

*EPM chapter 11, section VIII (p. 225): “Hand count board members shall not bring cellular phones, other electronic devices, or pens with black or blue ink into the official hand-counting area.”

Chapter 11, section I (p. 214): “Board members may not bring any electronic devices, black pens, blue pens, or cell phones into the designated location of the hand count. A.R.S. § 16-602(B)(7)