(UPDATED) The Arizona Republican State Senate Audit is Not About Finding Fraud; It is About Giving Cover to Republican led Voting Suppression Measures

The word is out.

Republicans in the Arizona State Senate have finally found their auditors to conduct a review of the Maricopa County Election Results for the 2020 Presidential Elections.

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Most objective-minded Arizonans already have a clue how much of a sham this process will be given two already completed audits that revealed no issues, numerous dismissed lawsuits, and the Senate Republicans’ ineptitude on where to store the ballots delivered last month by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.

Those conclusions should have been readily reinforced with the revelation that the firm hired to conduct the audit is called (I am not making this up) Cyber Ninjas.

It is also not helpful that the leader of Cyber Ninjas, Doug Logan, is a known Trump Zone resident engaged in various conspiracy theories in Arizona and other states.

Reaction in Democratic circles has been predictably harsh.

Please click below to read Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs’s reaction in an April 1, 2021 letter to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.

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Suffice it to say, she found the hiring of Cyber Ninjas troubling.

State Senate Democratic Leader Rebecca Rios issued a statement that read:

“The fact that Senate Republicans have hired a pro-Trump, “Stop the Steal” conspiracy theorist who says the election was rigged to lead the audit is more proof this “audit” has nothing to do with integrity, voter trust or the truth. This farce is not about increasing voter’s trust. This is about overturning the will of the voters and waging war against a fair and secure election. Americans’ right to vote is sacred and how elections are run is paramount to preserving trust in our democracy. This audit and the voter suppression bills we’re seeing pushed by Republicans is only encouraging the conspiracy that the election was manipulated. The election was clearly transparent and accurate after logic and accuracy testing before and after the election, a post-election hand count audit, a post-election review of adjudicated ballots, two independent audits, and months of litigation that turned up not even a kernel of evidence about the election being fraudulent. This relentless and continuous assault from Republicans is irresponsible and damaging to our democracy.”

Nancy Schriber, the Chair of the Maricopa County Democratic Party, also released a statement that relayed:

“The big lie is continuing to spread, and the AZ Senate Republicans are making it worse. By hiring firms with ties to ‘Stop the Steal’ far-right fringe groups, the AZ Senate GOP only adds fuel to the election fraud fire.

From the very beginning, the calls for election audits have come from extremist right-wing groups whose goal isn’t election security. They want to overturn the results of the Arizona 2020 general election. And now, with the AZ Senate GOP continuing an audit, they are validating these claims.

Not only does this cause a terrible precedent for future elections, but it also costs taxpayers thousands of dollars. Unfortunately, the AZ Senate GOP is not paying for contracting these firms. It’s taxpayers who will foot the bill.

Instead of focusing on critical issues impacting the communities they represent, the AZ Senate GOP is wasting valuable time undermining our democracy. Worse, this political ploy is serving to justify the multiple voter suppression bills in the Arizona legislature.

Moving forward with this election audit fiasco is dangerous. The AZ Senate GOP is now actively advancing the far-right fringe agenda, which will have a troubling effect on voting in Arizona for years to come.”

Farce, fiasco, sham, and UnAmerican are good words to describe what the Arizona  Senate Republicans are doing with the Maricopa County Ballots.

Laurie Roberts in her March 31, 2021 column called “Arizona Senate hires a Trump ninja to do its election audit. No … really,” expressed it well at the end of her column that no matter what this audit reveals, the other side will not believe the findings if it is adverse to their belief system.

If the audit concludes there is a fraud, Democrats will not believe it.

If the audit concludes there was no fraud, Trump Zone and Fox Island residents will not.

But is the point of the audit really about trying to uncover fraud as the Senate Republicans profess?

It is probably more likely these “auditors”  will prepare a report that Arizona Republican leaders could go back to their voters (especially the Trumpist ones and those with IQ’s in the low double digits) to justify the onslaught of voting suppression bills they have tried to ram through the Arizona State Legislature this session to disguise them as necessary voter security measures.

Arizonans should not fall for this big lie.

Please watch the below ad put out by Opportunity Arizona that reminds viewers that Republican Governor Doug Ducey and Republican Attorney General Mark Brnovich supporting the composition of the Grand Canyon State Election System.

Who are the ones that are trying to change the Arizona voting system and make it harder?

Kelli Ward, the only person in Arizona who is actually facing accusations of election theft.

Senate President Karen Fann who hired Doug Logan and Cyber Ninjas.

Possibly, Governor Doug, I blow with the reactionary wind Ducey.

Arizonans need to let the Republicans know they will not fall for this Grand Canyon State version of the big lie and that they will fight it in the courts if these measures ultimately pass and at the ballot box where the people who voted for these measures will have to answer to the voters.