The ongoing mess that is the AZ “election audit,” lacking any sense of transparency, conducted by an inexperienced, biased out-of-state firm, contaminating chain-of-custody and the ballots themselves, is not only a bad idea. It also likely violates federal law. /1

52 USC 20701 requires that election officials, and ONLY election officials, preserve all fed’l election records, including ballots, for at least 22 months after an election. This is to preserve evidence in case of a violation of voting laws. /2

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/52/20701

@USDOJ’s Public Integrity unit has a manual on the Prosecution of Election Offenses. That manual is very clear about the responsibility to maintain the provenance of ballots and other fed’l election materials, and the penalties for failure to do so. /3

https://www.justice.gov/criminal/file/1029066/download

Election officials are required to “take appropriate steps to ensure that those records will be preserved intact until such time as they may become needed to resolve legitimate questions that frequently arise involving the election process.” /4

52 USC 20701 also requires ballots and other records to be under the direct control and supervision of election officials at all times, which is not what is happening in AZ. /5

52 USC 20701 imposes criminal penalties and fines for failure to maintain and protect ballots and other election records, under the direct supervision of election officials, for at least 22 months. /6

What we know about the “audit” so far raises serious legal questions. Ballots have been removed from the control/supervision of election off’ls. Chain of custody has likely been destroyed. /7

Ballots have likely been contaminated by use of pens by "auditors," and perhaps by subjecting the ballots to unauthorized and unexplained processes, like UV light. This violates the entire purpose of 52 USC 20701 - the preservation of evidence. /8

A court hearing will be held at 11am AZ time today, regarding this ongoing escapade. One hopes that reason will prevail, and evidence will be preserved consistent with fed'l law, to the degree it can still be. /9

Most importantly, we must accept the facts, even when candidates we support lose a close election. AZ's paper ballots were transparently counted, and audited, and the results confirmed several times. This was the most secure and transparent election in US and AZ history. /10

AZ's election officials of both parties (and indeed, ALL election off'ls around the nation) deserve tremendous credit for running such a secure election, with record voter turnout, during a pandemic. Evidence of that success is required to be preserved by fed'l law. /END