Arizona Republican Reps. Call for Audit of Maricopa County Ballots

Poll workers count ballots inside the Maricopa County Election Department in Phoenix, Ariz., on Nov. 5, 2020 Olivier Touron/AFP via Getty Images

Several Republican members of Congress called on Arizona’s most populous county—Maricopa County—to audit ballots cast during the Nov. 3 election.

Reps. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), and David Schweikert (R-Ariz) sent a letter last week to the county’s Board of Supervisors in a bid to audit the results, according to Biggs’s office.

“Americans and Arizonans must have full confidence in our election processes and systems in order to maintain the bedrock of our constitutional republic,” said Biggs in a statement. “Although Arizona conducts elections with far more transparency and accountability than other states, there have been some issues raised about the integrity of some of our election systems within the state.”

Biggs said they’re now calling on the board to “go above and beyond to assure the public of the integrity of Maricopa County’s elections,” adding, “Let’s leave no stone unturned in the pursuit of accountability and transparency.”

Last week, the Arizona Republican Party filed a lawsuit to enforce a hand count by precinct rather than voting centers, which is “required by law,” it said in a statement. The suit asserts that Maricopa County implemented “voting centers” during the Nov. 3 election rather than assigning voters to polling places, which is the customary practice.

“There is a fundamental difference between sampling ‘polling centers’ and ‘precincts,’ most notable being the fact that there were only around 175 vote centers this election, but there were 748 precincts,” the Arizona GOP said in a statement last week.

Votes are counted by staff at the Maricopa County Elections Department office in Phoenix, Arizona, on Nov. 5, 2020. Courtney Pedroza/Getty Images

A judge in Arizona recently dismissed a Trump campaign lawsuit that seeks the inspection of ballots in the Phoenix area after the campaign’s lawyers said the number of ballots is too small and wouldn’t sway the outcome of the Nov. 3 election in the state.

“From 200,000 votes to less than 10,000 votes,” Trump also wrote on Nov. 12, referring to the difference between votes over time for him and Joe Biden, the Democratic challenger. “If we can audit the total votes cast, we will easily win Arizona also!”

On Nov. 16, vote tallies were unofficially completed over the weekend, showing Biden with a 10,377-vote lead over Trump.

Kelli Ward, the Arizona GOP chairwoman, said Republicans are nearing the threshold for triggering a recount in the state. “We are working—the Republican Party of Arizona with the Trump campaign, with the RNC—to ensure that every legal vote cast is counted in the way that the voter intended. We are fighting for you,” she said in a video.

While numerous news outlets have called the race for Biden, The Epoch Times hasn’t declared a winner, pending the outcome of several legal challenges. The Electoral College will vote next month. Inauguration Day is Jan. 20, 2021.