A federal grand jury subpoenaed records from the Arizona Senate's debunked "audit" of the 2020 election in Maricopa County amid fears that the Trump administration will attempt to assert control over this year's midterms.

State of play: Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen (R-Gilbert) wrote on X yesterday morning that the Senate last week received and complied with a federal subpoena for audit records, which the FBI now has.

Between the lines: Per state law, paper ballots are destroyed two years after the canvass for any election for a federal office in Arizona.

• Yes, but: The audit team made digital images of all ballots cast in Maricopa County in 2020, former Secretary of State Ken Bennett, who was involved with the effort, told Axios.
• Senate GOP spokesperson Kim Quintero wouldn't say whether those images were turned over to the feds.

The intrigue: The Arizona subpoena comes less than two months after the FBI raided an election office in Atlanta and seized related records as part of a criminal investigation into the 2020 vote.

• Arizona and Georgia, which former President Biden won in 2020, were both the focus of false claims by Trump and many of his supporters that the election was rigged.
• Trump yesterday posted an article on Truth Social claiming that Maricopa County election records were "secretly seized" by the FBI in an expansion of its criminal probe into "suspected election irregularities," calling it, "Great!!!"

Threat level: Some Democrats, including Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, have expressed concern that Trump might try to interfere with the 2026 elections.

Catch up quick: Then-Senate President Karen Fann ordered the audit in response to widespread falsehoods and conspiracy theories about Trump's 2020 Arizona loss.

• After months of work, including a hand recount of all ballots, the audit team affirmed Biden's win in Maricopa County, but issued a final report filled with false conclusions and baseless allegations.
• Maricopa County and the Arizona AG's office found that nearly all of the audit's findings were unfounded.

Read more

Amazon's driverless cars are coming to Phoenix, the company announced yesterday.

Why it matters: Alphabet-owned Waymo has taken over the Valley with its popular robotaxis and competitors are looking to get in on the autonomous vehicle action.

State of play: Zoox, Amazon's AV subsidiary, is deploying SUVs with safety drivers behind the wheel to manually map the Valley this spring ahead of a fully autonomous launch.

• The company will also open a "fusion center" in Scottsdale, where employees will provide teleguidance, mission control and rider support, according to a news release.

The intrigue: Zoox has developed a new vehicle designed for fully autonomous ride-hailing, which will arrive in the Valley after testing.

• It has carriage-style seating and no steering wheel or pedals — a decidedly different approach than Waymo, which operates a fleet of Jaguar I-Pace electric vehicles.

Zoom out: Phoenix will be the ninth city where Zoox is testing and the company expects to expand into Dallas imminently as well.

• Zoox began free public rides in Las Vegas and San Francisco last year.

Zoom in: The company said that coming to Phoenix will allow it to test its sensors and batteries against extreme heat and dust on high-speed roads.

Tell a non-robot driver

🗳️ Voting ends today in Tempe's election, with seven candidates vying for three seats held by incumbents who are seeking new terms. (12 News)

🇹🇼 Taiwan surpassed Canada and China to become Arizona's second-biggest international trading partner after Mexico. (KJZZ)

🏈 The Cardinals signed quarterback Gardner Minshew to a one-year, $8.25 million deal. (ESPN)

🚨 A man shot a pellet or paintball gun at a north Phoenix mosque while a group of children was praying early Sunday morning, which police are investigating as a hate crime. (AZcentral)

Editor's note: This item's headline and content were corrected to reflect that voting ends (not begins) today in Tempe's election.

A big change is coming to Major League Baseball, and you can get an early glimpse of it at Spring Training in the Valley.

The big picture: The MLB is debuting the Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) Challenge System to reduce missed calls on balls and strikes this season.

• It aims to improve fairness on borderline judgements, especially in critical situations.

State of play: The new technology and challenge protocol is being used at all Spring Training games this year.

• Five Cactus League facilities tested it last year and it's been used in the minor leagues since 2022.

How it works: Each team starts with two challenges. The batter, pitcher or catcher can initiate a review by tapping their helmet or cap immediately after the call.

• If it succeeds, meaning the umpire's decision is overturned, the team keeps that challenge — if it fails, it's lost.
• If a game goes to extra innings, teams without any challenges will receive one extra.

What they're saying: The Athletic's Jim Bowden, who's covering Spring Training, wrote that fans seem to like the new system as it adds a level of excitement and entertainment to the game experience.

By the numbers: The league reported that players overturned the umpire's verdict 52.2% of the time during last year's Spring Training testing.