AUDIT UPDATE: Maricopa County Officials Refuse to Hand Over Routers to Arizona Senate

In the latest update from Maricopa County, local officials are refusing to hand over routers and claiming they don’t have passwords to access the administrative control functions of voting machines.   The Arizona Senate told Maricopa County last week that it would issue subpoenas for live testimony from the county’s Board of Supervisors unless it receives […]

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  • 03/02/2023

In the latest update from Maricopa County, local officials are refusing to hand over routers and claiming they don’t have passwords to access the administrative control functions of voting machines.  

The Arizona Senate told Maricopa County last week that it would issue subpoenas for live testimony from the county’s Board of Supervisors unless it receives the requested materials for the audit. 

“We’ve been asked to relay that the Senate views the County’s explanations on the router and passwords issues as inadequate and potentially incorrect,” a lawyer for the Senate said in an email. 

The Arizona Senate subpoenaed election materials, like ballots, following the 2020 presidential election. Lawmakers also requested access to election machines, passwords and other technology to assist with the audit. 

Maricopa County argued in a lawsuit that the request for materials was too broad and threatened voter privacy. The county says it won’t turn over routers or router images, the Epoch Times reports. 

Secretary of State Ken Bennett, the Senate’s audit liaison, was told that the county doesn’t have passwords to access administrative functions on voting machines. 

“They’ve told us that they don’t have that second password, or that they’ve given us all the passwords they have,” Bennet told OANN

“They’ve also told us that they now can’t, as they promised a couple of weeks ago, provide our subcontractors with the virtual access to the routers and hubs and other things at the Maricopa County tabulation and election center, as was part of the subpoenas.” 

The Maricopa County sheriff went berserk on the request, calling it “reckless and irresponsible.” 

“The Senate Republican Caucus’ audit of the Maricopa County votes from last November’s election has no stopping point,” Sheriff Paul Penzone (D) said in a statement. 

“Now, its most recent demands jeopardize the entire mission of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office,” he continued. 

“The current course is mind-numbingly reckless and irresponsible. I look forward to briefing them on the horrendous consequences of this demand and the breadth of its negative impact on public safety in this County.” 

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