{"id":825160,"date":"2021-09-28T19:43:33","date_gmt":"2021-09-28T23:43:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=825160"},"modified":"2021-09-28T19:43:36","modified_gmt":"2021-09-28T23:43:36","slug":"fact-check-were-over-17000-duplicate-votes-found-in-the-maricopa-county-audit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fact-check-were-over-17000-duplicate-votes-found-in-the-maricopa-county-audit\/","title":{"rendered":"FACT CHECK: Were Over 17,000 Duplicate Votes Found In The Maricopa County Audit?"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/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%2Ffact-check-were-over-17000-duplicate-votes-found-in-the-maricopa-county-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=825160&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--><div><\/div>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CUODYGjBZqO\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;ig_rid=934fa367-a20e-4673-8126-64a00922e3e5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">viral Instagram post<\/a> claims over 17,000 duplicate votes were uncovered in the GOP-initiated audit of 2020 election ballots in Arizona\u2019s Maricopa County.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CUODYGjBZqO\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" data-instgrm-version=\"13\" readability=\"-9.6486486486486\"><\/blockquote>\n<p><span><strong>Verdict: Misleading<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>A presenter of the Cyber Ninjas audit report did say over 17,000 \u201cduplicate\u201d ballot envelope images had been found; however, such images are created as part of the county\u2019s signature curing process. Only one ballot is counted in such instances, according to Maricopa County.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span>Fact Check:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Cyber Ninjas, the firm <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/elections-election-recounts-phoenix-election-2020-business-396ea4662f8c213da010c0014ca97c6c\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">contracted<\/a> by the Republican-controlled state Senate to lead an audit of the 2020 presidential election in Maricopa County, on Friday <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/sAAu6O33rNE?t=923\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">presented<\/a> the findings of its report.&nbsp;The Cyber Ninjas report confirmed President Joe Biden won Maricopa County, the state\u2019s most populous county, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/politics\/2021\/09\/25\/arizona-ballot-audit-latest\/5863561001\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">USA Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVerified! Over 17,000 duplicate votes in Maricopa County alone,\u201d reads a viral Instagram post from Sept. 24. \u201cAnd you still believe this was a fair election?\u201d <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/checkyourfact.com\/2020\/11\/05\/fact-check-video-ballot-stuffing-michigan\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">(RELATED: Video Falsely Claims To Show \u2018Ballot Stuffing\u2019 In Michigan)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>While a presenter <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/sAAu6O33rNE?t=923\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">did say<\/a> while discussing the Cyber Ninjas report that over 17,000 \u201cduplicate\u201d ballot envelope images, including ones taken after Election Day, had been found, that does not mean the ballots within them were counted more than once. Such images are created during the signature curing process when election officials contact voters to address issues such as the ballot envelope lacking a signature or having an inconsistent signature and when those issues get resolved, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.azcentral.com\/story\/news\/politics\/elections\/2021\/09\/25\/maricopa-county-calls-arizona-election-audit-irresponsible-dangerous\/5848270001\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Arizona Republic<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery time a voter has a questioned signature or a blank envelope, we work with that voter to cure the signature,\u201d Maricopa County explained in a <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/maricopacounty\/status\/1441502853583966210\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sept. 24 tweet<\/a> regarding duplicated ballots. \u201cThat\u2019s our staff doing their job to contact voters with questioned signatures or blank ballots. Only one ballot is counted.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.abc15.com\/about-us\/staff\/garrett-archer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Garrett Archer<\/a>, ABC15 data analyst and a former official at the Arizona Secretary of State\u2019s office, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Garrett_Archer\/status\/1441504015972405256\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">noted<\/a> in a Sept. 24 tweet that \u201cduplicate envelopes will increase as we get closer to election day\u201d as the county is \u201ccontacting people to cure signatures and people are realizing that they forgot to put their ballot in the envelope.\u201d Maricopa County also said <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/maricopacounty\/status\/1441505170395840512\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">in a tweet<\/a> that it had \u201chired additional staff to contact valid voters and allow them the opportunity to cure their signature,\u201d including a \u201cnight shift of 40 people from Oct. 29- Nov. 10\u201d last year.<\/p>\n<p>In the event of an early ballot having an inconsistent signature, election officials must \u201cmake reasonable efforts to contact the voter, advise the voter of the inconsistent signature and allow the voter to correct or the county to confirm the inconsistent signature,\u201d according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.azleg.gov\/viewdocument\/?docName=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.azleg.gov%2Fars%2F16%2F00550.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Arizona state law<\/a>. The signature curing period affords voters five business days after an election to correct their signatures, per <a href=\"https:\/\/www.azleg.gov\/viewdocument\/?docName=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.azleg.gov%2Fars%2F16%2F00550.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the statute<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.maricopa.gov\/5681\/Elections-Equipment-Audit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Previous audits<\/a> conducted by independent auditors authorized by Maricopa County found the county\u2019s ballots were counted correctly during the 2020 election, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.azcentral.com\/story\/news\/politics\/elections\/2021\/02\/23\/maricopa-countys-election-audits-show-2020-votes-counted-correctly\/4550644001\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Arizona Republic<\/a> reported. Former U.S. Attorney General William Barr said in December that the Justice Department found no evidence of widespread fraud in the election, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/barr-no-widespread-election-fraud-b1f1488796c9a98c4b1a9061a6c7f49d\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Associated Press<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A viral Instagram post claims over 17,000 duplicate votes were uncovered in the GOP-initiated audit of 2020 election ballots in Arizona\u2019s Maricopa County. Verdict: Misleading A presenter of the Cyber &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-825160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/825160","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=825160"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/825160\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=825160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=825160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=825160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}