The audit is being live-streamed at azaudit.org
By Andrew Oxford | Arizona Republic
The Arizona Senate’s audit of Maricopa County’s presidential and U.S. Senate 2020 election continues on April 26, 2021, at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.
A request to keep secret the policies used for the recount of Maricopa County’s ballots has prompted pushback from news organizations ahead of a hearing scheduled for Tuesday.
A Maricopa County Superior Court judge ordered Friday that Cyber Ninjas, the Florida-based firm hired by the Arizona Senate to conduct the recount, turn over more information about its work this week as part of a lawsuit filed by the state Democratic Party and Maricopa County Supervisor Steve Gallardo. The lawsuit said the recount violates various state election laws and does not include adequate procedures to ensure the safety of ballots or voter privacy.
The Arizona First Amendment Coalition argued in a court filing Monday that the public — and particularly the 2.1 million people who cast the ballots now in the Senate’s custody — deserves to know how their ballots are handled and whether their privacy is protected.
The legal fight comes amid mounting questions about the transparency of the Senate’s recount. The effort’s funders remain a mystery, for example, and reporters have not been allowed inside, except as observers working six-hour shifts, during which time they are not allowed cameras.
“It is difficult to conceive of a case that warrants transparency more than this one,” attorney Dan Barr wrote on behalf of the group.
