Topline
Republican lawmakers Monday said that Covid-19 was contracted by several people who were hired to audit the 2020 Arizona election results. This delayed a widely criticised ballot review process, which has been under scrutiny from Congress.
Contractors examine and count the ballots of Maricopa County voters in 2020's general election.... [+] for Cyber Ninjas in Phoenix on May 6, 2021. ASSOCIATED PRINT
The Key Facts
Arizona Senate was expected to receive an audit report Monday. However, three members of the audit team tested positive to the coronavirus. This included Doug Logan, CEO of Cyber Ninjas in Florida, which was hired to audit the Senate, Senator Karen Fann (R) stated in a statement. Fann informed Forbes that all three staff members are extremely ill with Covid-19. Logan, along with one other member of the team, was also hospitalized. It is unclear if their cases are related. Fann's statement said that state senators still expect a portion of the draft audit report Monday. They will review the remaining portions and then release a final report to public at a later date. Forbes reached out to a spokesperson from Cyber Ninjas for comment.
Important Quote
Fann wrote Monday that the team was expecting to present the Senate with the complete draft of their report today. However, Cyber Ninjas CEO Doug Logan, and two other members from the audit team of five, were unable to make it.
Important Background
Arizona was won by President Joe Biden by just over 10,000 votes in November 2017. This upset win was not claimed by President Donald Trump or his associates. They said that there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud. Earlier this year, Arizonas Republican-controlled state Senate hired Cyber Ninjas to review millions of general election ballots in Maricopa County, the states largest county. Although Republicans claim they are trying to ensure fair elections, the audit has been subject to near constant criticism from national and local observers. They view it as a highly partisan exercise that is a pretext to continue to baselessly doubt the results. Maricopa County Republican officials claim they are unable to use their voting machines since auditors took them into custody. Staffers were accused of mishandling the ballots and inspecting them for signs of bamboo. This is a bizarre conspiracy theory that claims votes were brought to Arizona from Asia. Cyber Ninjas is a small-known company that does not appear to have any experience in auditing elections.
Chief Critic
The exercise conducted by Cyber Ninjas, a Florida-based contractor for the Arizona Senates, does not meet industry standards for credible audits. This was stated in a report last Wednesday by Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs (D).
Tangent
The U.S. House Oversight Committee, which is comprised of Democrats, launched an investigation into last month's Maricopa County audit. It asked Cyber Ninjas for documents about the audits partisan roots and funding sources as well as unusual practices and ties with Trump and his associates. Cyber Ninjas has not fully responded to its requests. The committee gave Cyber Ninjas until Friday to submit additional documents.
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His cybersecurity company is currently working on the Arizona "audit". People who know him have some questions (CNN).
