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Notes from an observer at the Arizona Coliseum where agents of Arizona Senate President Fann have taken control of the 2.1 million ballots, voting machines and other election materials that were forced out of the hands of trusted local election officials.
The current procedures in use strongly suggest that the goal of this “travashamockery” isn’t related to election integrity, security or accuracy. https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/07/politics/arizona-recount-bamboo-state-senate/index.html">https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/0...
First, typical post-election ballot review procedures require a pair of officials to review & agree on how to count individual ballots. In the event of a disagreement, there are clear escalation procedures that ensure these ballots receive add’l scrutiny & are counted properly.
Not at the Coliseum. Their procedures require ballots to be placed on a spinning turntable, giving the 3 counters seconds (or less) to review a ballot whizzing past & correctly mark their tally sheet bf the next ballot whizzes by. In different circumstances, this would be funny.
Not surprisingly, the vote totals on the 3 different tally sheets (each of the 3 “ballot counters” completes their own) frequently don’t match. What happens then?
Well, to begin with, the procedures don’t require all the tally sheets to match. If 2 tally sheets match, then they just move on (so long as the 3rd isn’t off by 3+ on any individual column).
Bc they originally counted ballots in batches of 100, this procedure had (basically) a built-in error rate of approx 3%. For comparison, the Maricopa County audit (conducted by bipartisan teams of auditors who took an oath to support the US & AZ constitutions) found 0 errors. https://twitter.com/recordersoffice/status/1325930916598829056">https://twitter.com/recorders...
Another concern is that they continue to change their procedures. E.g., they recently decreased the number of ballots in a counting batch to 50. But they didn’t revise the tally sheet discrepancy instructions, so now the acceptable error rate has doubled.
My colleagues, @votinggeek and Ryan Macias, have much more to say about the current procedures that vary drastically from the professional & proven election auditing and chain of custody procedures used by election officials across the country. https://twitter.com/nicolesgrigg/status/1390385757240520706">https://twitter.com/nicolesgr...
Even more troubling, these “cyber ninjas” are now demanding that local MC officials hand over more of their property (which is jointly shared by 50 other MC dep’ts) to the state. On Friday, the R-controlled AZ Senate’s lawyer threatened the local supervisors with more subpoenas+. https://twitter.com/jeremyduda/status/1390834344797696000">https://twitter.com/jeremydud...
This is, and should be, alarming to all local officials in Maricopa County (and across the country). The MC Sheriff stated, “[the AZ Senate’s Republican Caucus’s] most recent demands jeopardize the entire mission of the [MC’s] Sheriff’s Office....” https://twitter.com/penzone4sheriff/status/1390844260597977092">https://twitter.com/penzone4s...
And prominent Arizona Republicans, including at least one senator who originally voted to pursue this, are now opposed and calling for it to end. E.g., Arizona Senator Paul Boyer (R). https://twitter.com/brahmresnik/status/1391730497894580231">https://twitter.com/brahmresn...
. @CindyMcCain called it “ludicrous” on national TV. https://twitter.com/dillonreedrose/status/1388893375521124359">https://twitter.com/dillonree...
The Republican former Arizona Attorney General, @GrantWoods, continues to call for an end to this “kangaroo audit.” https://twitter.com/grantwoods/status/1391730559299178496">https://twitter.com/grantwood...
Prominent Republican AZ attorney @chrisderose has also called for it to end. https://twitter.com/jeremyduda/status/1388885056119181323">https://twitter.com/jeremydud...
And former AZ Gov Jan Brewer (R), a Trump supporter, stated, “[T]hey should’ve probably accepted it. But unfortunately, with our Republican Party, they didn’t... We don’t know what it’s going to cost. And are they gonna find anything? In my opinion, no.” https://www.iheart.com/podcast/256-mac-gaydos-show-audio-31105057/episode/jan-brewer-former-arizona-governor-81788208/">https://www.iheart.com/podcast/2...
Yet, the Arizona Senate has failed to listen to reason. And, as an AZ audit official explains, they continue on a hunt for bamboo fibers in the paper because a guy heard that a plane from Asia brought in 40k ballots. https://twitter.com/dennis_welch/status/1390014544890658819">https://twitter.com/dennis_we...
Even officials at the venue where they’re conducting this process are unwilling to accommodate the senate’s increasingly troubling demands. https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.azcentral.com/amp/4960234001">https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp...
Where are Maricopa County voters’ ballots going? Will they be properly secured and preserved? 
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🤷♀️" title="Achselzuckende Frau" aria-label="Emoji: Achselzuckende Frau"> https://twitter.com/brahmresnik/status/1390122409626243075">https://twitter.com/brahmresn...
What we do know is that the Arizona Senate’s massive mis/disinformation campaign has consequences for our democracy and our election officials. AZ Secretary of State @SecretaryHobbs and local EOs are facing a growing number of death threats. https://twitter.com/brahmresnik/status/1390467730411704321">https://twitter.com/brahmresn...
Secretary Hobbs now has a full-time security detail. https://twitter.com/brahmresnik/status/1390751246957481987">https://twitter.com/brahmresn...
Unfortunately, as some have noted, there is no end in sight. Stay tuned.
