A judge hearing a challenge to voter privacy policies during an Arizona Senate recount of 2.1 million election ballots from last year’s US presidential election on Tuesday said that he is not convinced voter secrecy is being upheld.
“I will share with you all, I am not yet persuaded that there has been a showing that the rights of the voters in Maricopa County are being protected,” Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Daniel Martin said. “And I think we will touch on this tomorrow [yesterday] when we address the policies and procedures and whether or not they can be withheld from public view.”
The Arizona Democratic Party and the lone Democrat on the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors on Thursday last week sued the state Senate and the contractor overseeing the election audit, Cyber Ninjas.
Photo: AP
They want a recount of the county’s presidential election results halted unless they get guarantees that voter privacy and ballot secrecy is ensured.
A judge who has since stepped aside from the case on Friday last week ordered the recount halted if Democrats posted a US$1 million bond, which the party declined to do.
He also ordered the state Senate and private election auditors to follow state law on voter and ballot secrecy and for Cyber Ninjas to produce its recount policies and procedures in court.
An attorney for Cyber Ninjas head Doug Logan is seeking to have the firm’s policies and procedures for protecting voter privacy kept secret, arguing that they are trade secrets.
Martin started the hearing by rejecting the state Senate lawyers’ arguments that they are not required to follow state elections law outlining how voters’ constitutional rights are protected.
“The Arizona Senate has the constitutional authority to conduct the audit as part of its legislative function,” Martin said. “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.”
The recount is being conducted at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.
Dozens of workers on Friday last week began a hand count of all the Maricopa County ballots.
Roopali Desai, the Democrats’ attorney, told Martin that the audit has been beset by issues from the start, and the refusal to release information on who is doing the counting and how ballot secrecy is being protected are troubling.
“They say they have an earnest desire to comply with the law. Well, what steps are they taking to make sure their desire is a reality?” Desai told the judge. “They say there are many procedures in place to protect the integrity of ballots and the machines. Where are those procedures? Why have the people of Maricopa County not seen them?”
Arizona Senate President Karen Fann’s attorney, Kory Langhofer, said that the auditors would absolutely follow the law, but added that the previous judge’s order lacked clarity and that many laws do not apply to an audit that is not an official recount that can change an election outcome.
The ballots are anonymous and no voter could be identified, Langhofer said.
“Which voter is having their right to vote thrown away?” Langhofer asked. US President “Joe Biden is going to be the president at the end of this audit. Mark Kelly is going to be a senator at the end of this audit. This isn’t changing the effect of anyone’s vote.”
The audit cannot overturn the results of the election, but its organizers say it is needed to restore voter confidence and help them craft changes to state election laws.
Senate Democrats call the audit an effort to perpetuate ideas that former US president Donald Trump lost the election because of fraud.
Fann blamed the media for a need for increased security after a television reporter last week entered the facility and walked right up to the ballots without being challenged.
She also said in an interview on Tuesday on KTAR radio that the media are getting regular briefings and are allowed access.
“We are going to be able to tell every Arizonan in a few weeks that they can have complete integrity and trust in their elections, or we have some parts of the election that need to be improved,” said former Arizona secretary of state Ken Bennett, who is serving as the state Senate’s liaison to Cyber Ninjas.
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