Maricopa County Won't Reuse Voting Machines Subpoenaed In Audit

PHOENIX, AZ — The voting machines that were subpoenaed as part of the Arizona Senate's election audit will not be reused again, Maricopa County Attorney Allister Adel said.

Adel and Deputy County Attorney Joseph E. La Rue co-signed a letter sent to Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs on Monday, detailing the office's decision.

Hobbs wrote in a May 20 letter to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors that the firm that Arizona Senate President Karen Fann and others selected to conduct the election audit, Cyber Ninjas, may have compromised the equipment's veracity.

"I understand Cyber Ninjas has begun returning the election equipment to the County," Hobbs letter reads. "... However, once the subpoenaed machines were turned over to the Senate and Cyber Ninjas, it is unclear what, if any, procedures were in place or followed to ensure physical security and proper chain of custody."

Hobbs goes on to say in her letter that Cyber Ninjas has not been upfront about their use of the election equipment and have not allowed election officials or observers from her office to stay with the machines during the audit.

The machines were leased from Dominion Voting Systems to the county for $6.1 million for the audit, the Arizona Republic reports.

As part of the audit process, the Senate received close to 2.1 million ballots and voter information, following subpoenas and court rulings that forced the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to turn over said information.

RELATED: What To Know About The Arizona Audit

The audit process began in late December, when Senate President Karen Fann and Arizona Senate Judiciary Committee chair, Sen. Eddie Farnsworth, filed a subpoena for ballots and voting machine information for a forensic audit.

The ballot-counting portion of the audit started in earnest in late April, after Republican lawmakers subpoenaed the more than 2 million ballots and nearly 400 tabulation machines.

A Maricopa County Superior Court judge allowed the Arizona Senate to access the more than 2.1 million ballots in late February, according to the Associated Press.

"There is no question that the Senators have the power to issue legislative subpoenas," Judge Timothy Thomason wrote. "The Subpoenas comply with the statutory requirements for legislative subpoenas. The Senate also has broad constitutional power to oversee elections.

"The Arizona legislature clearly has the power to investigate and examine election reform matters," the ruling says. "The Subpoenas also do not violate separation of powers principles. Production of the subpoenaed materials would not violate confidentiality laws."

The hand recount of the election results is slated to wrap up by the end of June, audit liaison Ken Bennett told pool reporters earlier this month.

“It’s all aspects related to the authenticity of the ballots,” Bennett said, including folds in ballots, alignment marks, ensuring the ballot was marked by a hand-held pen or marker and not done by a printer.

From there, audit workers will photograph each ballot, which is being done to ensure that no fake ballots slipped in.

The audit comes after Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden became the first Democrat since Bill Clinton in 1996 to carry the Grand Canyon State.

Biden wound up carrying the 48th State by just under 11,000 votes, or .3 percent, in 2020.

"We hold an audit," State Senator Eddie Farnsworth said at a Judiciary Committee hearing. "And then we can put this to rest."

In her letter to the county's Board of Supervisors, Hobbs addresses concerns about Cyber Ninjas and the company's use of voter information as central to her call to decommission the voting machines.

"Rather, decommissioning and replacing those devices is the safest option as no methods exist to adequately ensure those machines are safe to use in future elections," the letter reads. "As such, my Office is urging the County not to re-deploy any of the subpoenaed machines that it turned over to the Senate in any future elections.

"Instead, the County should acquire new machines to ensure secure and accurate elections in Maricopa County going forward."

Adel's letter on Monday expresses similar concerns to Hobbs about the audit's operators.

"... The board shares your concerns. It also recognizes your authority as Arizona's Chief Election Officer to determine what equipment is acceptable for use in Arizona's elections, as provided by A.R.S. § 16-442. Accordingly, I write to notify you that Maricopa County will not use the subpoenaed election equipment in any future election."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.