Judge concerned about audit’s voter protections
A judge on Tuesday raised concerns that the Arizona Senate and its contractor, the Florida-based firm Cyber Ninjas, have not protected the rights of voters as they recount the 2.1 million ballots cast in Maricopa County during the last election.
But Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Daniel Martin said the Republican-controlled Senate has the authority to conduct what it has billed as an audit of the last election and left it for future hearings to decide exactly what rules apply and whether the public can see the procedures the Senate’s contractors are following.
The Arizona Democratic Party and Maricopa County Supervisor Steve Gallardo filed a lawsuit last week to stop the unprecedented undertaking before workers at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum, where the ballots are now housed, began poring through votes on Friday. The lawsuit argued that the process violates various election laws and does not include necessary measures to protect the security of the ballots.
A different judge on Friday ordered that the Senate’s contractors turn over
some of its policies and procedures to the court. Lawyers for Cyber Ninjas moved over the weekend to keep the documents secret, however, and asked the court to shut the public and the press out of a hearing. The company argued making the documents public would compromise security and expose trade secrets.
That judge has since recused himself from the case and Martin did not rule on the argument Tuesday. He set another hearing for Wednesday to hear more on the issue.
“The Arizona Senate has the constitutional authority to conduct the audit as part of its legislative function. However, the manner in which that audit is conducted must be balanced against the constitutional rights of the voters in Maricopa County, including the rights to secrecy and confidentiality of information,” he said.
Before the hearing ended, Martin added: “I am not yet persuaded that there has been a showing that the rights of the voters in Maricopa County are being protected.”
Lawyers for Senate Republicans argued the judge should throw out the lawsuit altogether due in part to legislative immunity, contending lawmakers cannot be sued during the legislative session.
Martin rejected that argument on
Tuesday.
The judge said some policies of the state’s election procedures manual do not apply to post-election audits but some clearly do.
“Thus, in the court’s judgment, the heart of this case lies in the policies and procedures to be applied to the audit by the Arizona Senate,” Martin said.
The judge said, for example, that Cyber Ninjas is not required to ensure the political parties are equally represented in the recount process.
The company has not provided any assurances that every team counting ballots would include at least one Democrat and one Republican.
But Martin said that is a different question from ensuring all political parties can observe the process, along with the media.
Reporters so far are not allowed to watch the recount, except if working as observers, during which time they are not allowed cameras.
The next hearing in the case is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday.