Beset by delays, 'audit' team plans to submit full draft report to Arizona Senate next week

Posted Sep 10, 2021

Jeremy Duda
Arizona Mirror

Courtney Pedroza/Getty Images/pool photoA contractor working for Cyber Ninjas, who was hired by the Arizona State Senate, works to recount ballots from the 2020 general election at Veterans Memorial Coliseum on May 1, 2021.

The team that conducted the controversial review of the 2020 general election in Maricopa County plans to submit its full draft report to the Senate next week, after several weeks of delays.

Randy Pullen, a spokesman for the self-styled election audit, said the team expects to submit the draft report to the Senate on Wednesday or Thursday.

The report has been plagued by a series of delays. Previously, the team planned to submit it by Aug. 20, but that plan was derailed after audit team leader Doug Logan and two other members of a five-person team tested positive for COVID-19. Senate President Karen Fann announced at the time that a partial report would come several days later, with the remainder still to come, but the partial report was never submitted.

When the “audit” began in late April, Logan said he expected it to be completed by mid-May.

A Senate team will review the report and recommend changes before the final report is issued. Pullen said the Senate team will meet on Monday to discuss the timeline.

One of the budget bills approved by lawmakers and Gov. Doug Ducey in July tasks members of the Senate Government Committee with reviewing the audit team’s report and recommending changes to state law based on those findings.

This report was first published by the Arizona Mirror.