Maricopa County and State Senate Reach Agreement on Election Equipment, Data

by Sharon Rondeau

(Sep. 18, 2021) — In an agreement reached late Friday, the Maricopa County, AZ Board of Supervisors will allow the inspection of election equipment and records by a “Special Master” to satisfy subpoenas issued by the Republican-led state senate as part of a forensic audit of the 2020 election launched in April.

The Board had initially refused to comply with subpoenas issued by the state Senate for routers, passwords, mail-in ballot envelopes, voter registration data, and “splunk” logs. In late August, Arizona Atty. Gen. Mark Brnovich threatened to “potentially withhold hundreds of millions of dollars” if the subpoenas were not honored.

The Board of Supervisors had faced a September 27 deadline to turn over the subpoenaed materials. In May, the Board had condemned the audit, accused the senate of defamation and declared it would not produce further information. “The County’s routers provide a blueprint to the County’s network. Were that blueprint to fall into the wrong hands, the results could be catastrophic,” the Supervisors wrote in a 14-page letter to state senate president Karen Fann on May 12.

Each side issued a statement Friday evening, with Fann terming the agreement a “HUGE win” which “gives us all the data needed to complete the review of the routers & splunk log to the most comprehensive election audit in history. We got everything we need and more.”

The county also claimed “victory,” the Arizona Capitol Times reported Friday, as the routers will not be turned over to the firm which led the audit, Cyber Ninjas, which many believe was a partisan choice made by Fann.

Full official statements from both sides can be read here.

The results of the audit are expected to be provided to the senate on Friday, September 24 during a public hearing.