In this May 6, 2021 file photo, Maricopa County ballots cast in the 2020 general election are examined and recounted by contractors working for Florida-based company, Cyber Ninjas /pool photo
Robert AnglenArizona Republic
Three top election analysts say the hand count of ballots by Cyber Ninjas is “fiction” and the Arizona Senate’s own records prove it.
The hand count of 2.1 million ballots cast in Maricopa County’s 2020 election is wildly inaccurate and is not supported by the data made public during a three-hour Senate hearing last week, their new report finds.
The conclusions are based on a review of 40 ballot boxes, which the Senate for the first time broke down by number, batches and various types of tallies.
The analysts found the hand count was short by nearly 16,000 ballots, or roughly one-third of the total ballots contained in the boxes.
They say the numbers contradict the main finding of the Senate’s monthslong election review: That the hand count nearly matched the county’s certified election results.
It did not, and the result cannot be trusted, they say.
