Ken Bennett, the director of Arizona's Maricopa County Audit, was barred from participating in the recount.After sharing sample data with analysts outside of his organization, he decided to confirm the official vote total.Local news outlets reported that Bennett was expelled from the state fairgrounds where a new count of votes is taking place.10 Things in Politics: Keep up to date with the most recent political and economic news. Loading Something is loading. Click Sign up to receive marketing emails and other offers from Insider.Ken Bennett, a Republican official who is also the spokesperson for the Maricopa County Election Audit, was banned from entering the auditor's building last week.According to the Arizona Republic Bennett is now persona non-grata in the ongoing recount as he shared sample data about the count with election technology analysts Larry Moore, Benny White and Benny White.According to The Arizona Republic, the ex-Secretary of State for Arizona Bennett was barred from entering the fairgrounds in which the Maricopa County audit continues.Arizona Senate President Karen Fann ordered a new recount of votes last week. The separate count will see the 2.1 million ballots tallied again using high-speed paper counters in order to verify the work of the Cyber Ninjas.According to Rod Thomson, Cyber Ninjas spokesperson, Bennett was not allowed into the premises. He said that Fann gave the order.Fann suggested that on July 13, the official vote count and Cyber Ninjas hand-counted totals did not match, which required a second recount. The data Bennett provided to Moore and White confirmed the county's official certified vote numbers. This could potentially put into doubt any conclusions or results from the Cyber Ninjas audit.By more than 45,000 votes, Biden won the Maricopa County election last November. Trump continues to claim voter irregularities in Arizona in both statements and rallies.Cyber Ninjas is a private consultancy based in Florida that conducts the Maricopa County audit. They have no previous experience with handling election ballots. Its founder Doug Logan is a former President Donald Trump supporter and a "Stop the Steal” supporter. Logan was recently featured in an election conspiracy theory movie claiming that the CIA was behind election misinformation.Cyber Ninjas demands that the methods it uses for recounting votes be kept secret. They cite trade secrets and proprietary equipment. The audit's effectiveness was questioned after Cyber Ninjas workers left ballots and laptops unlocked. Cyber Ninjas have been criticised for looking for evidence of bamboo and Chinese paper in voting ballots.Insider reached out to Bennett, Fann, and Cyber Ninjas but they did not immediately reply.
