Maricopa County Sends Defiant Letter to Arizona State Senate: We Will Not Cooperate with Your ‘Adventure in Never-Never Land’ Audit

This January 6, 2020 file photo shows election officials counting votes for Fulton County
Photo by Megan Varner/Getty Images

The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors sent a defiant letter to the Arizona State Senate on Monday, refusing to cooperate with the state legislative body’s request for additional information about the November 2020 general election in the state’s most populous county.

In an antagonistic cover letter, Jack Sellers, Chairman of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, wrote:

It is now August of 2021. The election of November 2020 is over. If you haven’t figured out that the election in Maricopa County was free, fair and accurate yet, I’m not sure you ever will. The reason you haven’t finished your “audit” is because you hired people who have no experience and little understanding of how professional elections are run.

The Board has real work to do and little time to entertain this adventure in never-never land. Please finish whatever it is that you are doing and release whatever it is you are going to release. I am confident that our staff and volunteers ran the election as presecribed by federal and state law. There was no fraud, there wasn’t an injection of ballots from Asia nor was there a satellite that beamed votes into our election equipment. It’s time for all elected officials to tell the truth and stop encouraging conspiracies.

A letter from Maricopa County Attorney Allister Adel, signed by Civil Division Chief Attorney Thomas P. Liddy, set forward the legal argument for the county’s decision to refuse to provide the additional election information requested by the Arizona State Senate, “The Board of Supervisors objects to this subpoena,” Liddy wrote, for several reasons, including:

1. … because it was issued while the Senate was out of session. It is not evident that a subpoena issued when the Senate is adjourned is lawful.

2. … because of its lack of adequate notice…

3. … to the extent that it is an abuse of process or designed merely to harass.

4. … to the extent that it is overbroad or unduly burdensome.

5. … to the extent that it seeks records already in the Senate’s custody and control.

6. … to the extent that it seeks records in the custody or control of someone other than the Board of Supervisors.

7. … to the extent that it has been mooted by the actions of the Senate, Senate President [Karen] Fann [R], Senator [Warren] Petersen [R] or their designees.

You can read both letters in their entirety here.

As Breitbart News reported, the Arizona State Senate recently sent a request for further information to Maricopa County that included the following:

  • All reports, findings, and other documents concerning any breach of the voter registration server …
  • All ballot envelopes received in connection with the Nov. 3, 2020 general election, or digital images of the same.
  • All user names, passwords, pins and/or security keys or tokens required to access any and all ballot tabulation devices used in connection with the Nov. 3, 2020 general election in Maricopa County …
  • All Maricopa County registered voter records to date …
  • All routers used in connection with the Nov. 3, 2020 general election …
  • All splunk logs, network logs, net flows, or similar data related with systems associated in any way with the administration of the Nov. 3, 2020 general election for the time period beginning 60 days before the election and ending 90 days after the election.

Maricopa County’s letters on Monday make clear the county has no intention of providing any of this information.

The Arizona State Senate audit of the November 2020 Maricopa County election results has been controversial from its inception. The audit began on April 23. A final report is expected to be released later this month or early in September.

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