azaudit.org
By Bill Goodykoontz | Arizona Republic
You’d have to be an over-the-top optimist to find the bright side to the Republican-led audit of the 2020 election in Arizona.
But let’s give it a try. While there is no reason to believe that the election was in any way corrupt, and it has been audited multiple times already, there is something to cheer: the job local media have done in tirelessly covering — and uncovering — this story.
We talk a lot about the value of local media and its importance in communities. This is a prime example of it. Almost anything you know about the audit, which will pause for a week to make room for high-school graduations — because everything about this is nuts — is thanks to their work, conducted in the face of obstruction and secrecy. It’s invaluable.
“They have really done a magnificent job covering a damn important story,” said Dan Barr, a Phoenix attorney who has worked on behalf of the First Amendment Coalition to prevent Cyber Ninjas, the Florida-based company overseeing the hand recount, and whose CEO helped to perpetuate the election-fraud lie, from keeping details of its work from the public.
If it weren’t for the constant effort on the part of Phoenix newspapers, television stations, radio shows and online sites cutting through the chaff to get to what wheat there is, we would have no idea what was going on with the audit, which would be just fine with the people conducting it.
We definitely need to know.
