Brnovich says Arizonans deserve election confidence as audit rolls on

PHOENIX — Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, fresh off a Supreme Court victory that upheld two voting laws, said Thursday people deserve confidence in the election system as the contentious audit of Maricopa County results rolls on more than two months after it started.

Brnovich, a Republican, defended the need for the audit, siding with court rulings allowing contractors hired by the GOP-led state Senate to inspect the voting equipment and recount the nearly 2.1 million ballots from the November 2020 election in Arizona’s largest county.

“I understand there are a lot of people who are frustrated and have questioned the results of the last election and to me, that speaks to the need for confidence in the system and the need for election integrity measures,” Brnovich told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Mike Broomhead Show.

Maricopa County previously authorized two audits of its November 2020 general election by independent contractors who are certified by the National Institute for Standards and Technology and the U.S. Elections Assistance Commission.

Those audits found no problems with the count, but state Senate Republicans subpoenaed the county for access to the election materials at the urging of supporters of Donald Trump, who refused to accept President Joe Biden’s narrow victory in Arizona’s largest county and statewide.

Trump, a continued powerful GOP figure even after his loss, said in May that Brnovich “has done little so far on voter integrity and the 2020 Presidential Election Scam.”

Brnovich, who is running for U.S. Senate in Arizona, has repeatedly said in recent months that Biden won Arizona in the November 2020 election.

He said he’s looking forward to the release of results from the audit, which began April 23.

Findings are expected to be released in late July or early August, Randy Pullen, one of the Senate’s audit liaisons, said Wednesday.

“Anything that we can do or public officials can do to make more people confident in the process, I think is so important,” Brnovich said.

Follow @DannyShapiro13