I reached out to the Attorney General’s office requesting an update regarding the progress on the investigation into the findings of the Senate audit of the 2020 General Election.  I am pleased that he did indeed produce a report and am not surprised at his findings.  I want to first commend the Elections Integrity Unit (EIU) for the work they did over many months, and commend attorneys like Jennifer Write for their exemplary work.  

I must say that it is satisfying that my effort in 2019 to secure an oversight entity for elections has not only come to fruition but has been shown to be vital in the oversight of secure elections.  That effort was hard-fought but in the end, definitely worth the needed action to get it done.  This EIU will serve to assist legislators in crafting good election policy, and hopefully act as a deterrent for fraudsters in the upcoming 2022 elections.

I will begin by saying the letter raises more questions than answers.  I would like to go over the letter section by section and note my concerns.  It is my hope that the Legislature will find value in the bills proposed by myself and others that did not prevail in this legislative session.  They would have solved many of the problems in this report, and I intend on trying to restore the effort before the end of session.

With that said, General Brnovich begins his letter by announcing that they have reached the conclusion that the 2020 election in Maricopa County revealed serious vulnerabilities that call into question the election.  They continue by stating that they have “many instances of election fraud by individuals who have been or will be prosecuted for various election crimes.”  However, we have a statement later in Section II that states that the Secretary of State did not follow the law regarding A.R.S. 16-452 by not promulgating uniform procedures regarding signature verification.  I have to ask what might be done regarding elections officials, contractors, employees, and volunteers who break Arizona statutes.  Will they be held accountable for their actions or inaction?

This letter gives excellent guidance regarding policy changes needed to secure our elections.  I only wish it had been produced sooner, as we are nearing the end of session.  It is not too late to resurrect the bills that died this year.  I had 21 bills alone die due to not getting a full vote, or not passing due to two republicans voting no and failing to reach a majority.  The opinion of at least one of those Senators was the belief that the election was secure and there were no problems, based off the statements of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors and the then Maricopa County Recorder.  They not only denied there were any problems, but they also openly and unprofessionally ridiculed the Senate for investigating these irregularities.  I hope that we now can have a serious conversation regarding the problems of the 2020 General Election.  

Of great concern is the section regarding signature verification, drop box chain of custody forms, and access of election observers to the process.  Our efforts to correct these issues were stopped by legislators who were not willing to address the problems we found.  I have been studying the elections procedures for over 3 years and could see definitively that we had serious issues, however my efforts have in large part fallen on deaf ears.  I regret that it has taken this long to bring the proper attention to the issue, but at what cost?  What remedy exists to correct the fallout from a poorly executed election?  

The drop box chain of custody issue, alone, is cause to question the outcome of the 2020 General Election.  With the Presidential election having a margin of just over 10,000 votes, yet the estimated number of ballots transported without a proper chain of custody being between 100,000 to 200,000, there is no certainty for the public to have faith in the outcome.

With the publication of this letter, it is clear that we need to take a closer look at what Arizona must do regarding corrective action.  Is it good enough to just change the laws so that this does not happen again (assuming we can get the support) or should Arizona consider indictments as well as decertification.  I believe the answer is obvious.

Original source can be found here.