Cindy McCain calls state Senate audit of Maricopa County election ‘ludicrous’
May 3, 2021, 4:25 AM
Cindy McCain, wife of the late U.S. Senator John McCain. (File Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
(File Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
PHOENIX — Cindy McCain on Sunday slammed the Arizona Senate’s recount of 2.1 million ballots from the November election in Maricopa County, calling the audit “ludicrous.”
“The election is over, (Joe) Biden won,” McCain, the widow of the late Sen. John McCain, told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday. “I know many of them don’t like the outcome but elections have consequences.
“This does not surprise me, things are just aloof and crazy out there right now with regards to the election.”
Conspiracy theories about the election have proliferated in Arizona and nationwide since Biden’s victory over former President Donald Trump.
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Biden won Arizona last year by 10,457 votes and won in Maricopa County by 45,109 votes.
A judge ruled the Senate could access Maricopa County’s ballots for a hand recount after multiple reviews of the election results found no issues that would overturn Biden’s narrow victory in Arizona.
“This also comes from a state party in Arizona that refused to be audited themselves on votes that were cast within their own party communications,” McCain said, referring to the multiple lawsuits faced by the Arizona GOP and Chairwoman Kelli Ward seeking an audit of the Jan. 23 state party elections over concerns about ballot security and overall confusion.
Cindy McCain calls the Arizona audit of 2020 election ballots in Maricopa County “ludicrous.”
“The election is over. Biden won. I know many of them don’t like the outcome. But elections have consequences.” #CNNSOTU https://t.co/jDJeWJB915 pic.twitter.com/0qNcnolImO
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) May 2, 2021
Sandra Dowling was initially declared a winner of one of the at-large Arizona GOP executive committee posts before it was later announced that she actually had lost.
McCain, a Republican, has recently clashed with her party’s representation in Arizona.
She endorsed Biden during last year’s election after Trump verbally attacked her husband for years.
The Arizona Republican Party responded in January by voting to censure McCain, along with Republican Gov. Doug Ducey and former Sen. Jeff Flake.
Senate liaison and former Republican secretary of state in Arizona Ken Bennett told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Mike Broomhead Show last week that he believes the audit, which started April 23, will be complete by the time the Senate’s rental of Veterans Memorial Coliseum is up on May 14.
The audit can’t overturn the results of the election, but Senate President Karen Fann and Republicans in the chamber say the audit will help restore voter confidence and help lawmakers create changes to election laws.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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