Election audit may not be good for the GOP
Good news for the Republican Party (or is it bad news?). The Arizona Legislature can soon commence with its audit of the 2020 election results, according to Senate President Karen Fann.
You know, the one the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors was actually planning to do before the Arizona Republican Party sued the county?
In early December, the county was already planning an audit of the Dominion Voting Systems tabulation machines, along with a hand count of all votes — not because the mostly Republican supervisors thought there was a problem but to try to satisfy the concerns of voters who believed that skullduggery was afoot in Joe Biden’s win.
But Clint Hickman, chairman of the Board of Supervisors, said the audit had to be put on hold because state GOP Chairwoman Kelli Ward kept dragging the county into court, crying fraud. The machines and ballots would be considered evidence, and thus needed to be preserved.
Hickman and other county officials spent six hours during a Senate hearing in December, explaining why the various conspiracy theories about how Arizona’s election was stolen are a load of horsepucky. That there was no evidence of fraud, manipulation, tampering or any hint of the various nefarious plots dreamed up by Republicans to explain Trump’s loss.
So naturally, Senate GOP leaders issued sweeping subpoenas the next day, ordering the county to turn over all ballots along with all elections equipment and detailed information on every county voter, including dates of birth, addresses, party affiliation, whether they voted and if so what type of ballot they cast.
The county sued, claiming the Legislature lacked authority to examine ballots. But on Wednesday, the county dropped its opposition, acknowledging the Legislature’s authority. Fann said the county has agreed to turn over all requested materials, provided the auditor is certified by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission and that only authorized parties will have access to the data.
The county, meanwhile, says the agreement was still being worked out to deliver “some of the requested documents and information while protecting voter privacy and the integrity of election equipment.”
But it’s clear, this audit will happen. Count the Arizona Republican Party — yeah, the one whose lawsuits delayed the county audit to begin with — delighted.
“Thank you to the Maricopa Board of Supervisors for finally agreeing to #AuditTheVote after a three-monthlong, hard-fought battle for transparency!,” the Arizona Republican Party tweeted on Wednesday.
Count me delighted as well, though I still believe the Republican Party should pay for it, given that every preand post-election audit required by law already was done. In every test, the sample hand counts matched the machine count 100% of the time.
Still, it’s a good thing to go the extra mile and do this audit, even if taxpayers are stuck with the bill. Dig into every conspiracy theory promoted by the
Republican Party: the vote-stealing Sharpies, the ballot-eating green button, the rigged voting machinery, the “several hundred thousand” people who Rudy Giuliani claims voted in Arizona despite being in the country illegally.
It’s a good thing, right? If the fraud GOP leaders are longing to find is actually there, then we should root it out and prosecute the perpetrators.
Or it’s be a terrible thing, perhaps, if you’re one of the Republicans who, without evidence, has spent the last two and a half months railing about a stolen election in order to raise your political profile ...
If you’re someone who, despite all tests that show otherwise, has ranted and raved and screamed and hollered and promoted a rally that became a riot ...
If you’re someone who voted to disenfranchise Arizona’s voters by objecting to the certification of the state’s election results.
When the audit is done and no evidence of fraud is found, will the Paul Gosars and the Andy Biggses and the Kelli Wards of the world cease with the crybaby conspiracy theories and at long last abide by the will of the people?
Will they own up to their own responsibility in so undermining voters’ faith in democracy that most Republicans now believe they can’t trust our elections — or, presumably, the people who get elected?
Should the audit result in a finding that nothing nefarious happened here, will they hold themselves accountable for creating two and a half months of chaos? Will they resign because of their irresponsible, unhinged reaction to the fact that their candidate lost?
I’m guessing ... not.