A Maricopa County Superior Court judge tossed out the Arizona state Senate’s request that he order local officials to allow access to voting machines and records to aid a GOP-led effort to audit the county’s election results.
In a ruling on Wednesday, Judge Randall Warner said state Senate President Karen Fann and Sen. Eddie Farnsworth did not follow the appropriate procedures to enforce a legislative subpoena. But they are allowed to refile their case, according to KTAR.
Unless an update is filed, the matter will be dismissed on Feb. 1. The ruling is a setback for supporters of President Trump, as Congress is set to count and certify the Electoral College results on Jan. 6. Trump refuses to concede the election to President-elect Joe Biden, claiming the contest was stolen through massive voter fraud, although federal and state officials have said there is no evidence to support such a claim.
Clint Hickman, the chairman of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, released a statement acknowledging the victory, saying the board is working “to protect both voter privacy and the integrity of our elections.”
The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, which is controlled by Republicans, voted last week to resist the subpoenas, which sought access to voting machines. The board expressed willingness to hold third-party audits of the election once litigation concludes, but members voiced concern about how the private information of voters would be handled should it have complied with the subpoenas.
The Republican lawmakers filed a lawsuit Monday in response to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors suing to stop the subpoenas. The GOP lawmakers are pursuing their own audit of Maricopa County’s election tabulation after the county conducted its own routine audit, which found no issues.
Farnsworth said a review of voting equipment and software would address allegations of election fraud and go a long way toward “restoring the confidence” in the election process.
Trump and his allies claim Dominion Voting Systems machines allowed for votes to be improperly switched to Biden. Dominion Voting Systems, which had its machines used in Maricopa County and in other places across the country, has vociferously denied the allegations of being involved in a massive voter fraud scheme, billing them as being part of a “disinformation” effort, and is gearing up for litigation.
Maricopa County is the fourth-most populous county in the country and houses Phoenix. Arizona, which has 11 electoral votes, was one of the most coveted swing states in the election. The state went to Biden, though by a very narrow margin.
