Maricopa County 2020 Election Audit Appears on Track to Go Ahead After Democrats Refuse to Pay Bond BY ZACHARY STIEBER April 23, 2021 Updated: April 23, 2021
6 p.m. update: The Arizona Democratic Party on Friday said it will not pay a judge-ordered $1 million bond, suggesting that the audit will continue unabated after a court earlier in the day ordered a pause of Maricopa County votes during the 2020 election.
The Arizona Democratic Party released a statement confirming it won’t pay.
“Today’s temporary restraining order required that the Cyber Ninjas turn over all documents regarding their internal procedures, which should have been made immediately available to the public if this were a transparent or credible process,” the statement reads. “We are looking forward to the first actual explanation of their procedures and we sincerely hope that these documents are in keeping with best practices as has been demanded by the Arizona Secretary of State.”
They also accused Senate Republicans of a “lack of transparency” regarding “the actual cost of the audit,” which “makes the question of posting a $1 million bond laughable.”
“The Arizona Democratic Party will not risk our supporters’ hard-earned dollars to pay off the Cyber Ninjas,” Democrats’ statement continues.
The pause would have started at 5 p.m. local time Friday and lasted until 12 p.m. on Monday, April 26.
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Earlier Update:
A judge in Arizona on Friday ordered a halt to the audit of votes in the 2020 election.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Chris Coury said the pause is meant to be temporary. It starts at 5 p.m. on Friday and runs through noon on Monday.
Coury, during the Friday hearing, held open the possibility of extending the pause at another hearing on April 26.
The audit will only stop if the Arizona Democratic Party posts a $1 million bond meant to compensate the Arizona Senate for any expenses they get if they were wrongly enjoined.
The party on Thursday filed a lawsuit seeking to stop the audit, arguing the audit violated state law by lacking proper safeguards.
“The question here we are raising is the audit that the Senate and its agents are conducting violate many provisions of state law,” Roopali Desai, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, told the judge. “And it is those specific violations of the law that brings us here to your courtroom today.”
A judge in an earlier case ruled that the county must comply with subpoenas from the Senate.
Voter information could be made public because of lax security, Desai alleged.
The Arizona Democratic Party’s phone line was not accepting phone calls and its website did not list an email address. Desai’s law office did not return requests for comment.
A lawyer for the Senate, which subpoenaed the equipment and ballots for an audit and hired four firms to conduct it, argued that the plaintiffs did not provide evidence for their claims.
Merits aside, “we’ve not heard a word from the plaintiffs about how the constitutional clause saying that members of the legislature are immune from civil process while the legislature is in process doesn’t apply,” said Kory Langhofer, the attorney.
The audit of 2.1 million ballots and equipment used in the presidential election, including 385 tabulators, was scheduled to start on Friday after delivery to the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.
A legal battle over the planned audit has unfolded over months, with Maricopa County’s Board of Supervisors resisting efforts to audit the county’s votes. The county has said it did several recounts and found no major issues.
Steve Gallardo, the sole Democrat on the five-member board, joined the lawsuit.
Coury said he was concerned about confidentiality issues because of the sensitive information, such as names and addresses, that are being viewed by auditors.
But he emphasized that the audit will ultimately continue.
“This is a very brief pause to ensure that the confidentiality and the protections required by the Constitution and the laws are in place, that’s all it really is,” he said, adding later, “Let me be clear: the audit will proceed.”
Coury wants briefed on the legislative immunity issue, the separation of powers, and whether plaintiffs have adequate standing.
Earlier Friday, Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, urged Arizona’s attorney general to investigate potential violations of the state’s election laws in connection with the election audit.
Hobbs told Attorney General Mark Brnovich, a Republican, that there have been reports indicating the Senate failed to secure the equipment and ballots its contractors are auditing, resulting in “unauthorized and unmonitored access to both.”
Brnovich’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
"When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men living together in society, they create for themselves, in the course of time, a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it."- Fredric Bastiat
During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.- Orwell
These are uncharted waters. What if the audit reveals gross fraud? What if the audit suggests enough fraud to change the election's outcome?
There are no laws written on how to deal with this outcome, especially at this late date.
If the Maricopa audit reveals fraud, the logical next step would be to investigate other places where fraud is suspected. And then, the election itself could be challenged based on fraud.
Jovan Pulitzer has been saying since January that the election was not fair, that foreign countries influenced the outcome. Now we'll see and then we'll be challenged to remedy the situation. Won't that be fun?!?
"Of all horrible religions the most horrible is the worship of the god within." GK Chesterton
“These High-Tech oligarchs are dangerous for democracy.” Devin Nunes
"It’s a movement comprised of Americans from all races, religions, backgrounds and beliefs, who want and expect our government to serve the people, and serve the people it will." Donald Trump's Victory Speech 11/9/16
INSIDE EVERY LIBERAL IS A TOTALITARIAN SCREAMING TO GET OUT -- Frontpage mag
IIRC Patrick Byrne and Mike Lindell have spoken of going to the Supreme Court. I don't remember either specifying how that will be achieved.
Georgia has been mentioned as next up on the hit parade for a real audit by Peter Navarro on Bannon's Warroom.
Dr. Frank (of Lindell's videos) continues doing his analysis state by state and county by county. Approaching the election from a different angle, his results dove tail with that of Lindell's first video which identifies date, time, ip addresses, used in interference from outside the country and using AI type algorithms. Basically an analysis of internet logs.
Mike Lindell's documentary videos have to goal of informing the general public of scientific proof of election fraud and foreign interference and create public pressure on the supreme court.
I guess there are several options if the supreme court is gotten involved: redo the election, redo the counts by removing fraudulent votes.
I will be interesting to see how it pans out.
Mean while there is another open america tour on JUNE 17 - 19, in TAMAPA
I give Patrick Byrne, Sydney Powell, Mike Lindell, Lin Wood, Roger Stone, General Flynn and all the others credit. The are the target of lawfare and the politics of financial and personal destruction.
The price of liberty is eternal vigilance.
"When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men living together in society, they create for themselves, in the course of time, a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it."- Fredric Bastiat
During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.- Orwell
There are no laws on the books to deal with discovered voter fraud AFTER the Electoral College vote has been approved..
The Founding Fathers had no idea how corrupt we'd become. It's time to write some new laws to fit our current depravity.
Voter ID and the complete elimination of voting machines!
Say "Good-Bye" to America otherwise.
"Of all horrible religions the most horrible is the worship of the god within." GK Chesterton
“These High-Tech oligarchs are dangerous for democracy.” Devin Nunes
"It’s a movement comprised of Americans from all races, religions, backgrounds and beliefs, who want and expect our government to serve the people, and serve the people it will." Donald Trump's Victory Speech 11/9/16
INSIDE EVERY LIBERAL IS A TOTALITARIAN SCREAMING TO GET OUT -- Frontpage mag