{"id":462475,"date":"2021-04-30T07:33:43","date_gmt":"2021-04-30T11:33:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=462475"},"modified":"2021-04-30T07:59:51","modified_gmt":"2021-04-30T11:59:51","slug":"groups-ask-doj-to-send-monitors-to-watch-arizona-election-audit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/groups-ask-doj-to-send-monitors-to-watch-arizona-election-audit\/","title":{"rendered":"Groups Ask DOJ to Send Monitors to Watch Arizona Election Audit"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fgroups-ask-doj-to-send-monitors-to-watch-arizona-election-audit%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=462475&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The Brennan Center for Justice think tank and two other groups asked the Department of Justice this week to send monitors to observe the 2020 election <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-audit\">audit<\/a> taking place in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-arizona\">Arizona<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are very concerned that the auditors are engaged in ongoing and imminent violations of federal voting and election laws. Specifically, we believe that the senate and its agents, including Cyber Ninjas, are 1) violating their duty under federal law to retain and preserve ballots cast in a federal election, which are and have been in danger of being stolen, defaced, or irretrievably damaged, and 2) preparing to engage in conduct which will constitute unlawful voter intimidation in violation of the Voting Rights Act and other federal laws,\u201d Wendy Weiser, Elizabeth Howard, and Hannah Klain from the center at the New York University School of Law said.<\/p>\n<p>They and officials from\u00a0the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and Protect Democracy <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/20694545-az-letter-to-doj-042921\">penned a letter<\/a> to Chris Herren, who heads the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice.<\/p>\n<p>The division did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did Ken Bennett, the former Arizona secretary of state who is the state Senate\u2019s liaison for the audit.<\/p>\n<p>Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, said she supports the call for federal monitors.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cArizonans deserve to know their ballots are secure and those assurances need to come from independent observers. I support this request,\u201d Hobbs wrote in a tweet.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3797342\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-462478\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-4195.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"868\"  style=\"display:none\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-4195.jpeg 1200w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-4195-300x217.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-4195-1024x741.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-4195-768x556.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-4195-922x667.jpeg 922w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-4195-675x488.jpeg 675w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-4195-480x347.jpeg 480w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-3797342\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-4195.jpeg\" alt=\"Epoch Times Photo\" width=\"640\" height=\"463\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Maricopa County ballots cast in the 2020 general election are audited at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix, Ariz., on April 29, 2021. (Rob Schumacher\/The Arizona Republic via AP\/Pool)<\/figure>\n<p>Auditors are reviewing 2.1 million ballots,\u00a0385 tabulators, and other materials and machines used in last year\u2019s presidential election.<\/p>\n<p>The state Senate ordered the review \u201cto ensure the integrity of the vote.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The process started last week at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix. It is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/maricopa-county-election-audit-on-pace-to-be-done-by-deadline-official_3795869.html\">expected<\/a> to wrap up in mid-May after Democrats <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/judge-rejects-democrats-bid-to-immediately-halt-arizona-2020-election-audit_3795011.html\">failed to stop it<\/a> over alleged security breaches.<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0Brennan Center for Justice <a href=\"https:\/\/www.brennancenter.org\/issues\/defend-our-elections\/election-security\/post-election-audits\">generally supports<\/a> post-election audits, including risk-limiting audits, which see workers count a small percentage of paper ballots cast in an election. Bennett has said the current audit is different because it is reviewing all ballots and the machines used last year.<\/p>\n<p>In the new letter, the center said it is concerned that Cyber Ninjas, which the Arizona Senate hired to lead the audit, is not qualified to do so. The letter also claimed that ballots \u201care in imminent danger of being stolen, defaced, or irretrievably damaged, and Arizona citizens are in imminent danger of being subject to unlawful voter intimidation as a result of flawed audit procedures.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Like a recent lawsuit filed to try to halt the audit, the letter relied primarily on local news reports about alleged security concerns at the audit site.<\/p>\n<p>Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Daniel Martin ruled this week that plaintiffs in the suit did not\u00a0provide \u201csubstantive evidence of any breaches or threatened breaches of voter privacy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Three observers were sent by Hobbs on Thursday, including Ryan Macias, a former acting director for the\u00a0U.S. Election Assistance Commission, ABC15 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.abc15.com\/news\/state\/secretary-of-state-gets-observers-inside-maricopa-county-election-audit-cyber-ninjas-has-to-reveal-methods\">reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Hobbs had been denied access to monitor the proceedings but struck a deal with Karen Fann, the Republican Senate president, after a directive from the judge.<\/p>\n<p>Macias and Jennifer Morell, a Protect Democracy election consultant, were joined by Liz Howard, a Brennan Center attorney.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3797343\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-462482\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-4196.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"779\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-4196.jpeg 1200w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-4196-300x195.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-4196-1024x665.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-4196-768x499.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-4196-922x599.jpeg 922w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-4196-675x438.jpeg 675w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-4196-480x312.jpeg 480w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-3797343\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-4196.jpeg\" alt=\"Epoch Times Photo\" width=\"640\" height=\"415\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Ballots cast in the 2020 general election are audited at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix, Ariz., on April 29, 2021. (Rob Schumacher\/The Arizona Republic via AP\/Pool)<\/figure>\n<p>According to court papers, Macias and Morell have been watching the audit via livestream.<\/p>\n<p>In <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/20694546-ryan-macias-declaration\">a declaration<\/a> dated April 26, Macias said what he saw \u201conly increases my concerns regarding the integrity and preservation of the ballots now in the custody of Cyber Ninjas,\u201d citing how the company has been exposing ballots to ultraviolet light.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBased on my experience in election administration, including my 10 years of auditing and certifying ballot printers for the California Secretary of State, ballots should not be exposed to UV light, which deteriorates ink on paper as well as the paper itself. Therefore, this process could impede Maricopa County\u2019s ability to preserve and maintain the ballots for the applicable federal and state retention period,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n<p>Also on Thursday, Cyber Ninjas released <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/20694547-cyber-ninjas-1\">several<\/a>\u00a0sets of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/20694548-cyber-ninjas-2\">documents<\/a> after the judge rejected their attempt to file papers outlining security procedures under seal.<\/p>\n<p>Procedures for testing and handling during audits were included, as well as a security plan for the Arizona audit.<\/p>\n<p>Security for the audit includes six Andersen Security guards as well as Arizona Rangers and two other guards, according to one document.<\/p>\n<p>In one extreme threat scenario envisioned, a group of members from the far-left Antifa network would use backed-up traffic along the railyard near the audit site to launch an \u201cad-hoc or opportunistic incendiary attack.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In another area, there is a greater threat of militia activity, the document states.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn Cyber Ninjas\u2019 ongoing efforts to be transparent and ensure this information gets out to the public, we are providing convenient links to all of the documents that are being made available today,\u201d Bennett, the Senate liaison, said in a statement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Brennan Center for Justice think tank and two other groups asked the Department of Justice this week to send monitors to observe the 2020 election audit taking place in &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2277066,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-4195.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"Groups Ask DOJ to Send Monitors to Watch Arizona Election Audit","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-462475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-4195.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"Groups Ask DOJ to Send Monitors to Watch Arizona Election Audit","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=462475"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462475\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2277066"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=462475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=462475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=462475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}