Statement from Chairman Jack Sellers About the Senate Audit Hearing

Members of the Board of Supervisors watched the Senate/Cyber Ninja hearing and the County’s social media team, working with elections professionals, responded to allegations in real time.  I encourage reporters and the public to read those responses on Twitter @maricopacounty.  We noticed the auditors buried this fact: their ballot recount was nearly identical to the County’s count, and the official results stand. 

The Cyber Ninjas’ opinions come from a misuse and misunderstanding of the data provided by the county and are twisted to fit the narrative that something went wrong.

Once again, these “auditors” threw out wild, damaging, false claims in the middle of their audit and Senate leadership provided them the platform to present their opinions, suspicions, and faulty conclusions unquestioned and unchallenged.  Today’s hearing was irresponsible and dangerous.

Today these “auditors” falsely and recklessly accused Maricopa County of potential crimes and Senate leadership amplified those lies.

Maricopa County checks equipment and practices all the time. We archived all the 2020 General Election data and all actions taken by staff were to run the March election, comply with the subpoena and support our certified forensic audits. The Elections Department we created in 2019 was designed to deliver better service to voters, to allow them to vote by mail, in person prior to Election Day or on Election Day. It delivered in 2020 and our satisfaction survey showed 91% of our voters were happy with the experience.

However, this small group now alleges crimes against loyal public servants.  I encourage law makers to stop listening to the fringes and gather real facts from election experts before making more careless allegations and proposing legislation based on poor science.