Arizona’s weird, haphazard, and partisan “audit” of the 2020 election

Donald Trump’s effort to overturn his loss within the 2020 election was a cocktail of equal elements ridiculousness and menace. On the one hand, a sitting president actively inspired efforts to destroy American democracy — together with an assault on the US Capitol. Then again, the 4 Seasons Complete Landscaping press convention was a factor that occurred.

So it in all probability shouldn’t be a shock that, months after Joe Biden gained the 2020 election and was sworn in as president, Trump loyalists in Arizona are engaged in the identical type of absurdist anti-democracy that drove the ultimate weeks of Trump’s time period in workplace by auditing all ballots solid within the state’s largest county.

Arizona’s Republican-controlled Senate doesn’t have the facility to overturn the 2020 election — certainly, the Structure supplies no mechanism in any way to contest a presidential election as soon as the victor has taken workplace. However the state Senate is ready to subpoena the two.1 million ballots solid in Maricopa County, which Biden gained by greater than 2 share factors in 2020.

The phrases of this “audit” seem designed to destroy confidence within the course of. The lead firm conducting the GOP’s audit is a Florida safety firm referred to as Cyber Ninjas, which has no expertise with elections. Cyber Ninjas’ CEO, Doug Logan, nonetheless, does have a historical past of spreading pro-Trump conspiracy theories concerning the 2020 election.

AZ Mirror through Archive.org

After a state court docket ordered Cyber Ninjas to reveal how it’s conducting this so-called audit, a subcontractor revealed that the method includes weighing ballots, inspecting them underneath a microscope, and inspecting the “thickness or really feel” of particular person ballots to be able to determine “questionable ballots” that must be examined by a “lead forensic examiner” after which “faraway from the batch and despatched for additional evaluation.”

After which there’s an enormous thriller involving ultraviolet lights.

As a part of the audit, based on a doc laying out the method for inspecting ballots, employees are required to put ballots “underneath UV-B and UV-A supply” to check the illuminated ballots to “consultant specimens.” It’s in no way clear what exposing the ballots to UV mild is meant to perform — a coalition of election consultants wrote the Justice Division asking it to ship observers to watch this quizzical audit, and one in all their considerations is that “ultraviolet mild causes not solely paper to deteriorate, but in addition results in the deterioration of marks on paper ballots.”

Nonetheless, Trump reportedly talks “continually” about how these UV lights may reveal — one thing — that may undercut Biden’s victory.

It’s all nonsensical for those who’re the type of one that is inclined to ask vital questions like “Are these Cyber Ninjas guys actually on the extent?” or “So what’s the UV mild supposed to perform?” However for those who’re the type of one that asks such questions, you additionally aren’t the target market for this audit.

Professional-Trump retailers like One America Information Community (OAN) and Newsmax function breathless protection of how, in Arizona GOP chair Kelli Ward’s phrases, this audit shall be “the primary domino that may fall after which different states will look into irregularities, abnormalities, errors and probably outright fraud that occurred.” Trump himself touts the audit, claiming that Democrats try to cease it as a result of “it gained’t be good for the Dems.”

The actual goal of the audit, in different phrases, seems to be feeding Trump’s huge lie — the false concept that the 2020 election outcomes are fraudulent.

How is that this “audit” being performed?

Nothing concerning the processes used throughout this GOP-led audit conjures up confidence that it’s going to obtain dependable outcomes, together with the truth that the audit is happening within the first place. There may be merely no motive to suspect widespread fraud within the 2020 election, and even many high-ranking Trump administration officers admit as a lot. Within the phrases of former Legal professional Basic Invoice Barr, there’s no proof of “fraud on a scale that would have effected a distinct consequence within the election”

Whereas the state Senate contributed $150,000 to assist pay for the audit, a lot of the funding comes from unknown sources, or from fundraising drives led by right-wing organizations. OAN has raised cash for the trouble.

This dubiously funded audit, furthermore, comes after Maricopa County performed its personal hand recount of all ballots solid in 2020, and after the county employed two impartial corporations to look at its voting machines. These nonpartisan investigations discovered no proof of fraud or different severe issues within the 2020 election.

A good portion of the GOP audit includes weighing ballots, inspecting them underneath microscopes and underneath UV mild, observing the “really feel” of particular person ballots, and inspecting whether or not the ballots are folded in a method that could be suspicious. A doc laying out easy methods to determine suspicious ballots, for instance, tells poll screeners to “observe the presence of a visual fold” on any poll solid on Election Day and to “observe the absence of seen fold” on ballots solid on a distinct day.

The concept seems to be that individuals casting their ballots in individual won’t fold the poll, whereas individuals who solid their poll by mail will accomplish that.

Along with figuring out “questionable ballots” primarily based on such rigorous standards reminiscent of how a lot the poll weighs or whether or not it’s folded, the audit additionally features a recount of Maricopa County’s ballots — although it isn’t clear whether or not ballots deemed “questionable” are included on this recount.

Beneath the recounting course of utilized by the GOP audit, three totally different “counters” are assigned to every poll. Every poll is proven to a workforce of three counters, who then make their very own tallies of what number of votes have been solid for every candidate. As soon as 100 such ballots have been counted on this method, the three counters’ tallies are in comparison with see in the event that they match.

If the three counters agree, then the stack of 100 ballots is counted. But when one counter disagrees with the opposite two, the ballots apparently will nonetheless be counted as long as the dissenting counter doesn’t disagree with the opposite two counters by three or extra votes.

For instance, if two counters agree that 48 of the 100 votes solid in a specific stack of ballots have been solid for Trump, then Trump will apparently be credited for 48 votes even when a 3rd counter thought that he acquired solely 46 votes — although, in equity, poll stacks the place one of many three counters disagreed with the opposite two are marked to point this disagreement.

The press has, at varied factors, been excluded altogether from observing this so-called audit — although the pro-Trump OAN is allowed to livestream the method. At different factors, reporters have been allowed in after which kicked out after revealing info that embarrassed the GOP.

Ryan Randazzo, a reporter for the Arizona Republic, tweeted out an image displaying a former Republican state consultant reviewing ballots. Shortly thereafter, he was advised that his press privileges have been revoked — audit organizers claimed that Randazzo was kicked out as a result of his image additionally included the picture of a poll.

However Randazzo’s tweet revealed a significant issue with the audit. The previous lawmaker captured by Randazzo, Republican Anthony Kern, misplaced his seat within the 2020 election, and he was slated to be a member of the Electoral School if Trump had gained Arizona.

Kern, in different phrases, is taking part in an audit of an election during which he ran for 2 separate public workplaces. That’s a battle of curiosity. A candidate who was rejected by voters in 2020 has a reasonably apparent stake in undermining confidence within the 2020 election.

In a separate incident, a reporting workforce from CNN was confronted by three males in outfits that resembled police uniforms as one other man sporting a badge from Cyber Ninjas accused the CNN crew of “trespassing.” The three uniformed males weren’t, actually, police.

The audit, in different phrases, depends on darkish cash to fund a doubtful recount the place ballots could be deemed “questionable” for the thinnest of causes. Reporters, in the meantime, have restricted entry to the entire course of. They usually can apparently be kicked out for revealing info that makes the audit seem much more suspicious.

What’s up with the UV lights?

Maybe the most important thriller surrounding this entire circus is why, precisely, individuals within the audit are shining UV lights on particular person ballots.

At a press convention final week, a reporter requested Ken Bennett, a Republican former secretary of state who’s the Arizona Senate’s liaison to the auditing course of, what the UV lights are getting used for. His reply was removed from edifying.

“The UV lights are trying on the paper. And is a part of a number of groups which are concerned within the paper analysis,” Bennett initially advised reporters. When he was requested to clarify what goal this course of serves, he responded, “I personally don’t know.”

One risk is that the UV lights could also be tied to the QAnon conspiracy idea. In accordance with the Arizona Republic’s Jen Fifield, QAnon supporters “claimed that former President Donald Trump and others secretly watermarked mail-in ballots to show fraud” shortly after the November elections — so the UV lights could also be supposed to search for these secret watermarks, which don’t really exist.

One other idea is that the UV lights could be used to scan for fingerprints — some conspiracy theorists declare that, if pretend machine-printed ballots have been solid in 2020, these ballots wouldn’t have fingerprints like a poll that was dealt with by an precise voter.

A 3rd idea, additionally floated by Fifield, is that the UV mild could also be used to scan for indicators {that a} poll was folded.

In any occasion, the entire thing is weird. It’s unlikely that Republicans are exposing these ballots to UV mild for no motive in any respect. However nobody has, not less than as of but, been capable of get a transparent reply as to why they’re doing so.

That is all very foolish, nevertheless it’s additionally very scary

The GOP’s audit is such a clown present that it’s tempting to dismiss it because the type of Trumpian spectacle that garners a number of press consideration however finally accomplishes nothing.

Whereas Republican leaders can’t reply very fundamental questions on their audit — reminiscent of what the UV lights are for — one main Republican has been pretty clear about what she hopes to perform as soon as the audit is over.

“How can we put election integrity again into our system, and that’s solely what this has been about,” state Senate president Karen Fann advised an area radio host final week. She added that the aim of the audit is to “get solutions in order that if we now have any issues, we are able to repair them and we make it possible for the following election is safer, cleaner and run easily.”

The obvious goal of this audit, in different phrases, seems to be to seek out “issues” with the state’s electoral course of that the GOP can “repair” with laws — laws which will resemble voter suppression legal guidelines that Republicans already handed in Georgia or Florida.

In accordance with the Brennan Heart for Justice, Arizona lawmakers have launched almost two dozen payments that search to make it tougher to vote within the state. That features 14 payments focusing on absentee voting and a strict voter ID invoice.

No affordable individual may take the Arizona GOP’s audit of the 2020 election significantly. However the target market for this audit isn’t affordable individuals. It’s Trump’s most unquestioning supporters — each inside and outdoors of the Arizona state legislature.