Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs told officials in Maricopa County that she would consider decertifying election equipment subpoenaed as part of the Senate-commissioned 2020 election audit if the county moves to reuse the equipment in future elections.
Hobbs, a Democrat, wrote in a Thursday letter to members of the county’s Board of Supervisors that she has “grave concerns” over the integrity of voting systems that Cyber Ninjas, a Florida-based firm which has been conducting the audit on behalf of the Republican-led Arizona Senate, has been examining.
Recommended Stories
“If the County intends to re-deploy the subpoenaed equipment, over which the County lost custody and control, for use in future Arizona elections, please notify my Office as soon as possible … so that we may properly consider decertification proceedings pursuant to A.R.S. § 16-442 as to the subpoenaed equipment,” Hobbs wrote.
“Instead, the county should acquire new machines to ensure secure and accurate elections in Maricopa County going forward,” she added.
The secretary of state said her office consulted with election security experts, including some who work for the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, for guidance on the issue.
“Each unanimously advised that once election officials lose custody and control over voting systems and components, those devices should not be reused in future elections,” she said, adding, “Rather, decommissioning and replacing those devices is the safest option as no methods exist to adequately ensure those machines are safe to use in future elections.”
Hobbs specified that her threat to decertify equipment applied only to “specific pieces of subpoenaed election equipment that the county turned over to the Senate and its contractors, and not to the underlying Dominion voting system.”
County Spokesman Fields Moseley told the Washington Examiner that the county received the letter and that it “is being reviewed by our attorneys and they will advise Board members before they take next steps.”
Hobbs and other local officials have been highly critical of the effort to examine election equipment and the 2.1 million ballots cast in Maricopa County during the 2020 presidential election.
“Your ‘audit,’ which you once said was intended to increase voters’ confidence in our electoral process, has devolved into a circus,” the Board of Supervisors said in a Monday letter to Senate President Karen Fann.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Republican officials, including former President Donald Trump, support the audit effort. Trump insisted it will reveal Arizona as a “scam election” state.
