PHOENIX — Republican state senators have finally hired the companies they want to audit the 2020 presidential election returns.
The Senate president is denying that the CEO of one of the firms has links to election conspiracy theories, despite his deleted tweets.
And the senators have yet to figure out where the $150,000 review of Maricopa County’s election returns will be conducted.
In an announcement Wednesday, the chamber’s Republican leaders said they have hired a team to be led by a firm called Cyber Ninjas to review both the equipment used by Maricopa County as well as do a hand count of the 2.1 million ballots that were cast.
No cost figures for that contract were immediately provided.
The focus is on Maricopa County where Democrat Joe Biden outpolled incumbent Republican Donald Trump by 45,109 votes.
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That was enough to counteract Trump votes elsewhere in ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥, giving Biden a 10,457-vote edge statewide and ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s 11 electoral votes.
Cyber Ninjas’ website says the firm is involved in things like testing the vulnerability of computer systems.
Other firms being hired include Wake Technology Services Inc., CyFIR LLC and Digital Discovery.
Wake will be in charge of the hand count amid allegations that the Dominion Voting Systems software used in Maricopa County was either hacked or deliberately programmed to attribute Trump votes to Biden.
The Senate press release announcing the hiring said that firm has done similar counts in New Mexico and Pennsylvania in the most recent election.
But issues remain.
Some of those involve the choice of Cyber Ninjas, a Florida firm founded by Doug Logan, who remains chief executive officer, and who signed the contract with the Senate.
Deleted tweets by Logan unearthed by ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Mirror found messages linking him to some of the conspiracy theories that the election was stolen.
“The parallels between the statistical analysis of Venezuela and this year’s election are astonishing,†he wrote in one, a reference to claims there was a link between Dominion and the family of now-deceased dictator Hugo Chavez. “I’m ashamed how few republicans are talking about it.â€
Logan also has retweeted the comments of others saying there was election fraud.
And prior to the election, Logan, using the Twitter handle “@securityvoidâ€, wrote of why he supported Trump.
Senate President Karen Fann denied that anyone involved in the audit has a link to claims that the election was stolen.
“I know that’s what the media’s going to try and spin,†the Prescott Republican said. “But you can’t tell me they’ve been involved in conspiracy theories.â€
There was no response from Logan to a message left at his office.
More immediate is the question of where all this work will be done.
Fann said she would like that work done at county election offices. But so far county officials have balked at the idea of having private contractors in the area.
In the meantime, the ballots have been sitting in a locked county warehouse waiting for the Senate to decide what it wants to do next.
Fann said a copy of the contract was sent Wednesday to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, specifically for the purpose of explaining how much space would be needed and for how long.
Fun fact: Javelina have a scent gland on the top of their rump that they rub on rocks and tree stumps to mark their territory. They're also (unofficially) the cuties of the desert. Video by Henry Brean / ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥
If that doesn’t work out, “we have a few other possible locations,†she said. “But I would prefer to start with them.â€
All that leads into the related issue of ballot security.
In a letter to lawmakers in March, Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, the state’s chief elections officer, suggested that their plans would “waste taxpayer resources chasing false claims of fraud that will only further erode public confidence in our election processes and elected officials.â€
But Hobbs said if they insist on going ahead, they should follow certain procedures to ensure the ballots remain secure and there is no chance that marks on them could be changed. Those include having bipartisan oversight with a live video feed.
“We are going to do this full independent forensic audit with multiple layers of security checks, double checks, hand counts, you name it,†Fann said. “There’s no way anybody can screw with us.â€
There already have been reviews of the county’s election returns.
Those included “logic and accuracy†tests done on all equipment, both before and after the vote, to ensure that the machines were properly tallying any ballots. There also was a legally required hand count of a random sample of ballots, selected by officials from both parties, that showed a 100% match with the machine count.
And when that didn’t satisfy Republican senators, the GOP-controlled Board of Supervisors hired two other firms to check the equipment and verify not just programming but that they had not been hacked and had not been hooked up to the internet in a way that could change votes.
The GOP senators then went to court and got a judge to rule they were entitled to subpoena pretty much anything they wanted.
“We have a large amount of our voters, both R’s and D’s and independents in ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥, that have a lot of questions about the 2020 election, and they have lost a lot of confidence in our voter integrity system,†Fann said. “That’s our job as the Senate: to answer the questions and reinstill the confidence in them.â€
House Democrats chided the Senate decision and its choice of auditors.
“The (county’s) two auditing firms with credentials and experience already performed audits on ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s 2020 election and pronounced it free and fair,†the Democratic caucus said. “Scraping the bottom of the barrel should not fill anyone with confidence.â€
Aerial photos of ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥, Pima County, in 1980
Swan Road and Sunrise Drive in February, 1980. The new Safeway Plaza is bottom right. Catty-corner from the Safeway, a Burger King restaurant is under construction. Across the street, land bladed for a Valley National Bank (now Chase Bank), a restaurant, retail and apartments. The old Rural Metro fire station is behind the street mall at top right.
Oracle Road (left to right) and Ina Road in February, 1980. There were gas stations on three corners of the intersection. All have been demolished. The venerable Casas Adobes Plaza is lower right, now anchored by Whole Foods. The open land at upper right is now the Safeway Plaza. The bank on the corner is still there, but the existing buildings to the right were demolished to make way for parking for the new plaza. Lower left is the property for the Haunted Bookshop, now Tohono Chul Park.
Oracle Road and Magee Road north of ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ in February, 1980. Plaza Escondida is at right, now anchored by Trader Joe's. The open land at bottom of the photos is now the large retail plaza anchored by Kohl's, Sprouts and Summit Hut. The Circle K (sitting alone, upper left) is now a ballroom dance studio. Note the new asphalt on Oracle Road. In 1977, the state approved a project to widen Oracle Road (a state highway) to six lanes from Ina to Calle Concordia. That may be the last time the road was paved.
ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Medical Center in February, 1980. The intersection of Grant and Craycroft roads is at bottom left.
O'Reilly Chevrolet (cluster of cars), then Park Mall (center left) and Broadway Road in February, 1980. The open land at top left is now Williams Centre.
The FICO pecan orchards, bisected by South Nogales Highway, looking north to Sahuarita Road in February, 1980.
Tanque Verde Road (bottom left to upper left) and Wrightstown Road in February, 1980, before the City of ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ constructed the grade-separated interchange. The first units of the Tanque Verde Apartments are lower left. The Circle K facing Wrightstown at the intersection is now Pair-A-Dice Barbers. The large parking lot and building to the left of the Circle K was the O.K. Corral Steakhouse, which was established in 1968. It closed in 2008. It's now Borderlands Trading Company.
Corona de ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Baptist Church, lower right, on Houghton Road south of Sahuarita Road in February, 1980. With exception of some infill housing and a few more trees, the neighborhood looks pretty much the same.
IBM (International Business Machines) on south Rita Road, looking north to the Santa Catalina Mountains in February, 1980. In 1988, IBM began phasing out data storage products manufacturing in ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥, resulting in the loss of nearly 2,800 workers in ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥, part of a $600 million consolidation plan.
ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ National Golf Course north of ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥, looking south, in February, 1980. The Cañada del Oro Wash is at left. Magee Road goes left to right at the top of the photo. Shannon Road curves to the left at top of the photo. That open land is now home to Pima Community College and the YMCA.
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