Arizona Republican senators hire auditors to reviews 2020 election

Arizona state Senate Republicans have hired a team of independent auditors to recount the 2020 election, including a hand recount of all ballots in Maricopa County.

The lawmakers announced their decision Wednesday. 

The team will be led by Cyber Ninjas, a cybersecurity company focusing on security in financial and government sectors. The firm will oversee the team of technology or cybersecurity companies, including Wake Technology Services and Digital Discovery.

"Our people need to be assured that the Senate and Maricopa County can work together on this audit to bring integrity to this election process," Senate President Karen Fann said. "A significant number of voters want the additional assurance that a full forensic audit might bring."

This audit is the most recent of many audits of the 2020 presidential election in the State. Maricopa County had previously issued an audit of the election in January 2021 and found that all software and equipment used in the election was not hacked or modified and found that all ballots were accurately counted.

Previously, an audit of ballots in 10 out of the 15 counties in Arizona, including Maricopa County, had passed. These audits were performed right after the election and posted on the Secretary of State for Arizona's website on Nov. 11, 2020. 

The AZMirror reports that Dominion Voting Systems, the company often at the center of unsubstantiated claims of 2020 election fraud, is highly critical of the Cyber Ninjas firm.

"The firms selected to conduct this audit are beyond bias," Dominion said. "Publicly available information shows they are led by conspiracy theorists and QAnnon supporters who have helped spread the Big Lie." Dominion supports all forensic audits conducted by independent federally-accredited Voting Systems Test Labs – but this is not that."