Maricopa County to start forensic election audit on Tuesday

PHOENIX — Maricopa County will begin a forensic audit of its tabulation equipment on Tuesday, less than a week after voting to move forward with the process despite continued defense of the integrity of the 2020 election.

The first of two independent firms will get underway with the audit at the Maricopa County Elections Department at 9 a.m., the department said in a press release.

The audit plan calls for both firms to analyze the equipment’s hacking vulnerability, assure tabulators weren’t sending or receiving information over the internet and confirm that no vote switching occurred during the election.

Audit work is expected to continue through February and March, according to the plan.

Exact information about the firms conducting the audit aren’t known, but Clint Hickman, District 4 supervisor, told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Mike Broomhead Show on Wednesday they would be from Alabama and Colorado.

Prior to last week’s vote, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors said they had trust in the election process but an audit would only further that belief.

Concerns about the Dominion voting systems, which serves Maricopa County, have been a commonality since the election despite no proof of fraud.

Maricopa County released a fact sheet Tuesday detailing its election integrity.

That included a hand count audit of results performed by Maricopa County political parties the day after the election, which yielded a 100% match to the vote tabulation machines.

Two weeks later, the county’s elections department and the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office performed a post-election logic and accuracy test on equipment to make sure it wasn’t compromised during the election.

Members of all three political parties and a representative from the Arizona Attorney General’s Office observed the test.

The board certified the county’s election results two days after the logic and accuracy test.

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