Dominion and Maricopa County reject Arizona Senate audit request
Votes are counted by Maricopa County Elections Department staff in Phoenix, Arizona, in November. Photo: Courtney Pedroza/Getty Images
Maricopa County and Dominion Voting Systems both refused on Monday to comply with subpoenas from the Republican-controlled Arizona state Senate over an audit of the 2020 presidential election.
Why it matters: Their refusal comes days after the Justice Department issued a second warning to states that so-called audits of the election could violate federal laws, something Dominion cited in its refusal Monday, per the Arizona Republic.
- The audit is being conducted by the Florida-based Cyber Ninjas, whose chief has supported unfounded claims of voter fraud.
Driving the news: The Senate's contractors say they need to check routers to see if the county's voting machines were connected to the internet during the election.
What they're saying: The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors noted in a letter in response to the latest subpoena that it had already provided the contractors with the information needed for this check — noting that some of the materials they'd been asked to provide were in the custody of the recorder's office, per the Arizona Republic.
- Thomas Liddy, civil division chief for the county attorney's office, wrote that providing the routers "puts sensitive, confidential data belonging to Maricopa County citizens — including Social Security numbers and protected health information — at risk."
- Liddy noted that the Maricopa County Sheriff "has explained that the production of the routers would render MCSO internal law enforcement communication infrastructure extremely vulnerable to hackers."
- Dominion said in its letter obtained by the Arizona Republic that the request "violates" its constitutional rights and "exceeds the Legislature's constitutional and statutory authority. Doing so would cause grave harm."
Go deeper: Arizona Senate postpones plans to interview voters after DOJ raises concerns