Maricopa county officials, whose board of supervisors is controlled entirely by Republicans, and whose top election official is also a Republican celebrated the draft report to be vindication of their election results.
To confirm what I knew, you don't have to go into the draft copy of Arizona Senate/Cyber Ninja Audit Report to confirm that the candidates certified by Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, Governor and Secretary of State did win. Board chair Jack Sellers, a Republican said in a statement. This means that the tabulation equipment correctly counted the ballots and the results were in line with the voters' will. This should be the end.
POLITICO examined copies of the draft report circulated both by the Maricopa County Recorders Office and the Arizona Secretary of States Office. Both have repeatedly opposed the effort. Arizona media outlets, including KJZZ, Arizona Republic and Arizona Agenda, previously reported on different drafts of this report.
A spokesperson for Secretary of State said that the office cannot verify the authenticity of the draft and would not share the details of how they received it. A spokesperson for the secretary of state said that they cannot verify the authenticity of the draft and declined to share how the office received a copy.
Friday afternoon is set for Arizona's final report release.
The Arizona review has had significant problems. It took months longer than expected and was unable to be completed on time. They also seemed to have improvised processes on the fly, playing into conspiracy theories such as checking for bamboo fibers on ballots. Trump's allies also contributed significantly to the funding of this effort.
It has been opposed by both state election officials and experts outside the state. They also criticized the audit label that supporters attached to it. Logan, who is leading this effort, has repeated some of Trump's conspiracy theories and has no experience reviewing or running elections.
Trump's supporters will continue to attack America's democracy system despite the fact that Trump's tally is almost identical. Draft report claimed irregularities in tens of thousand of ballots and recommended changes to states election laws to tighten up the process for future elections.
Everyone will be watching Arizona tomorrow, to see what highly respected auditors and Arizona State Senate discovered about the so-called Election! statement made by the former president hours before the draft report was published.
Copycat investigations or reviews of the Arizona effort have been initiated in other states, including those supported by GOP legislators in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The Texas secretary of state office said Thursday night that it would review the 2020 elections in four of the most populous counties of Texas. This announcement came after Trump released a letter to GOP Gov. Greg Abbott called for one earlier in day.
Trump also made it a point to press Republican officials throughout the country about his lies regarding the election. He often lashed out at Republican election officials who claimed that their elections were not rigged. Trump has supported Republicans who are seeking to be their secretary of state, including Mark Finchem (state representative), a key proponent of the Maricopa review.
