No fault in voting machine purchase
Audit details process for vetting vendors’ bids
A review of Maricopa County’s purchase of the voting machines used to tabulate the 2020 election results found proper procedures were followed, a state auditor general report issued Wednesday concluded.
Lawmakers mandated the audit last spring amid persistent claims that the county’s machines were somehow rigged to throw the presidential election to Joe Biden, an unfounded allegation made without any proof.
The special audit also found state and county elections officials properly used private grant money as they launched campaigns against misinformation and conducted public outreach in the runup to the 2020 primary and general elections.
The report made no recommendations. It provided detailed information on the county’s procurement process, down to the score sheets used to evaluate the bids from Dominion Voting Systems and two other vendors.
The heavily technical report concluded the county “(c)omplied with its procurement requirements for acquiring the Dominion voting system used in the 2020 elections.” The county relied on certifications from federal elections officials as well as the Arizona secretary of state, and did its own testing of the system’s security features.
“I told you so, I told everybody,” Adrian Fontes said of the auditor general’s conclusion. Fontes was Maricopa County recorder at the time the Dominion systems were acquired.
Republicans, who have contended that the 2020 election was stolen without providing any evidence, regarded Fontes, a Democrat, with suspicion as they sought proof that the machines were rigged or somehow compromised.
However, Fontes said the purchase was made through the county’s procurement office, not his office.
“I told you so, I told everybody,” Adrian Fontes said of the auditor general’s conclusion. Fontes was Maricopa County recorder at the time the Dominion systems were acquired.
“We were sending our press releases about this 21⁄2 years ago,” he said. “I guess people are more comfortable making policy based on conspiracy and lies.”
Fontes is now seeking the Democratic nomination for secretary of state.
Townsend: Findings a ‘good thing’
The auditor general’s finding is in line with the findings of an independent audit that Maricopa County officials ordered last year to respond to charges the county didn’t follow procedures. That audit found the county “generally complied” with its procedures and said the few deviations it identified did not affect the integrity of the Dominion purchase.
Sen. Kelly Townsend, R-Mesa, pressed for the auditor general examination as a condition for her support for the state budget last year.
Although she had not yet seen the report, released late Wednesday, she said it was a “good thing” that no improper procedures were found.
The Arizona Republic reached out to Senate President Karen Fann’s office, but did not receive an immediate response. Last week, when another election-related review was released of the county’s voting equipment, Fann said the auditor general’s report was one of the final steps needed to close out the Senate’s year-long scrutiny of Maricopa County’s 2020 election procedures and results.
The auditor general’s report also reviewed the grant money elections officials received from the non-partisan Center for Tech and Civic Life. The money was distributed to help offset the extra cost the COVID-19 pandemic created for elections officials.
The auditor general detailed the dollars state and county offices received for purposes ranging from hiring extra staff to establishing ballot drop boxes.
For example, the Secretary of State’s Office received $5.1 million and spent $5 million of it, mostly to counter misinformation and disinformation, the report stated. The office returned the remainder. Pima County spent all of the $950,446 it received to hire staff and man early voting sites.
It made no recommendations on those practices.