Democrats in Maricopa County, Arizona, have gone to court to suppress work on a hand recount of the ballots from the 2020 presidential race.
Arizona was one of a handful of states where the results, and the processes used, for the 2020 election raised suspicion of fraud. In those states, Joe Biden won by extremely slim margins following ballot "dumps," sometimes in dark-of-the-night hours, that sometimes went almost 100% for Biden.
A successful campaign by Republicans in the state Senate for a full recount was launched this week when officials in the county started delivering equipment that was used in the November election to the state fairgrounds where the recount is to include all 2.1 million ballots.
The actual work, by contractors hired by the state Senate, is expected to take weeks.
But now the Washington Examiner reports the Arizona Democratic Party has filed a lawsuit to stop the review of the election count.
They are insisting on a temporary restraining order to halt the work and suppress any results that could suggest that there was any wrongdoing in the election.
Maricopa County Supervisor Steve Gallardo, one of the plaintiffs, claimed that the lawsuit to stop verification of the election results is "to protect the sanctity of the ballots."
He also claims his attempt to halt the verification process is to "preserve voters' privacy from a sham audit that has been corrupted by agitators and conspiracy theorists."
The county already had done audits that officials there said showed no irregularities.
The Examiner said Senate President Karen Fann, one of the defendants, has promised independence and transparency in the audit which would include the goal of restoring voter confidence in a system that created suspicion with its 2020 results.
Also a defendant in the Democrats' attempt to shut down the review is Cyber Ninjas, the Florida company hired to do the audit.
Gallardo also claimed that process was being funded by "dark money influencers" and charged the company that was hired was not qualified.
"The Arizona Senate Democrats released a statement supporting Gallardo's position, saying, 'It’s clear that this audit is no more than a temper tantrum from those still upset that they lost the election and it is deeply damaging to the integrity of our elections and our democracy,'" the Examiner reported.
A court upheld the right of the Senate Republicans to conduct the review.
The AP reported county officials earlier this week started delivering equipment used in the November election to the fairgrounds for the independent review.
Ken Bennett, a former Arizona secretary of state, confirmed security is tight for the 2.1 million ballots that will be reviewed.
Bennett confirmed in addition to the recount, the mail ballot signatures and the tabulation machines used will be reviewed.
Shortly after the election judges rejected several lawsuits over the state results, as they did across the nation. But most were rejected on technicalities and most of the actual allegations of fraud never have been reviewed by any court.
One issue that is not in doubt – and remains the subject of concern – is that state officials arbitrarily and without constitutional authorization changed various state laws concerning the 2020 ballots to accommodate COVID-19.
Those changes mostly were for mail-in ballots, which were heavily promoted by Democrats and are suspected of being more susceptible to fraud.
Officials who ran the election have warned that a review that produces a different result that theirs could undermine confidence in the election process.
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