Maricopa County begins elections audit, some Arizona senators still argue for more
Audit results could change future of elections in Arizona.
and last updated 2021-02-02 23:14:58-05
PHOENIX â After months of debate, legal challenges and subpoenas, Maricopa County began the first of two planned audits to its elections systems Tuesday morning.
Auditors with Pro V&V, one of two companies with active accreditation with the Elections Assistance Commission, plan to run multiple tests on tabulators used to count votes cast in-person on Election Day, machines that counted early ballots and software used in the elections process.
Several tests aim to confirm whether any of the county s machines were connected to the internet, whether any malware was installed or if there was any vote-switching in the process of counting the ballots from the 2020 general election.
UpdatedThu, Jan 21, 2021 at 7:40 am MT
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Arizona Senate President Karen Fann (right) confers with fellow Republican Sen. Sylvia Allen in the Senate building in Phoenix in May 2019. (Bob Christie/Associated Press, File)
PHOENIX Maricopa County officials agreed Wednesday the day of President Joe Biden s inauguration to turn over election data and ballots to Arizona Senate Republicans for an audit.
The agreement ended weeks of back-and-forth negotiations between the county and the state legislative body, many of whose members question how Biden won the once reliably Republican Arizona.
The Republicans request appears to be part of the party s so-far futile effort to advance arguments that the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent, despite there being no evidence to support such claims. Arizona certified its 11 Electoral College votes for Biden on Nov. 30, with Republican Gov. Doug Ducey signing off on the security and validity of the state s elections.
The U.S. military and law enforcement are taking unprecedented measures to lock down the nation’s capital to prevent violence tied to Trump’s impeachment and President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration.
After the attack in Washington, D.C., last week, Texas state Sen. José Menéndez and several fellow Democrats sent a letter to the Republican governor and legislative leaders asking them to ban weapons at the state Capitol. Menéndez said no response had been received.
He said the head of the Texas Department of Public Safety shared his concerns and promised that state troopers and other law enforcement would be deployed to protect returning lawmakers.
OLYMPIA, Wash.
State capitol buildings across the nation including in Austin, Texas, where lawmakers are carrying weapons have called in the National Guard and erected barricades over fears that far-right groups and President Trump’s supporters are plotting a second wave of uprisings after last week’s storming of Congress.
An FBI warning of “armed protests” planned at all 50 statehouses and the U.S. Capitol in the days leading up to President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration Jan. 20 has brought out SWAT teams and extra law enforcement officers dressed in camouflage, helmets, face shields and bulletproof vests.
The high alert unnerved an America that over the last seven days has been shaken by disturbing images: representatives fleeing a violent mob breaking into the nation’s Capitol, the impeachment for the second time of an increasingly reviled president, and scenes of rage, tears and threats playing out at airports and on city streets that underscore a dangero