Mark Brnovich: Interim Report – Maricopa County November 3, 2020 General Election

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich talks about the interim report he sent to the Arizona Senate yesterday about his investigation into the 2020 election. Brnovich did not find voter fraud specifically, but wheat he did confirm is that the safeguards to protect against voter fraud were not in place. Therefore, allegations of fraud are reasonable. The attorney general’s investigation continues, and since he is running for U.S. Senate, he may be motivated to find more evidence before the final report is posted. The bad news? Brnovich doesn’t think there is any remedy even if fraud is confirmed.

Brnovich Interim Report Raises Questions about 2020 Election Conduct

I just dropped off our initial review of the 2020 election audit to President Fann. We can report that there are problematic system-wide issues that relate to early ballot handling and verification. ~ Mark Brnovich

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
STATE OF ARIZONA

MARK BRNOVICH
ATTORNEY GENERAL

April 6, 2022

The Honorable Karen Fann
Arizona State Senate
1700 W. Washington St.
Phoenix, Arizona 85007

RE: Interim Report – Maricopa County November 3, 2020 General Election

Dear President Fann:

Six months ago the Arizona Attorney General’s Office (the “Office”) received reports sent from the Arizona State Senate concerning its Maricopa County Forensic Election Audit. In addition, the Attorney General’s Election Integrity Unit (EIU) has received and is reviewing additional complaints alleging election failures and potential misconduct that occurred in 2020.

Our team of EIU investigators and attorneys has now collectively spent thousands of hours reviewing the Senate’s audit reports and other complaints, conducting interviews, and analyzing Maricopa County’s election system and processes. We have reached the conclusion that the 2020 election in Maricopa County revealed serious vulnerabilities that must be addressed and raises questions about the 2020 election in Arizona.

As our state’s chief law enforcement officer, I am very concerned by any potential vulnerabilities in our state’s election systems, including those that the audit and other complaints have alleged. The EIU’s review has uncovered instances of election fraud by individuals who have been or will be prosecuted for various election crimes, I The EIU’s review is ongoing and we are therefore limited in what we can disclose about specific criminal and civil investigations. Thus, this interim report will focus on what our office can presently share and the current status of our review.

We can report that there are problematic system-wide issues that relate to early ballot handling and verification. The early ballot signature verification system in Maricopa County is insufficient to guard against abuse. At times election workers conducting the verification process had only seconds to review a signature. For example, on November 4, 2020, the Maricopa County Recorder verified 206,648 early ballot affidavit signatures, which resulted in an average of 4.6 seconds per signature. There are simply too many early ballots that must be verified in too limited a period of time, thus leaving the system vulnerable to error, fraud and oversight.

¹ See Arizona Attorney General’s Office — Fraud & Special Prosecutions Section, Prosecutions Related to Voting or Elections Since 2010, available at https://vvww.azag.gov/sites/default/files/docs/criminal/viu/EIU_Prosecutions_February_2022-02- 02.pdf.pdf

Moreover, our review has determined that in multiple instances, Maricopa County failed to follow critical procedures when transporting early ballots from drop locations to the election headquarters. It is estimated that between 100,000 and 200,000 ballots were transported without a proper chain of custody. Because most voters in Arizona now choose to vote by early ballot, it is imperative that the processes for handling and verification of early ballots be strengthened before the 2022 elections per our recommendations below.

The first half of this report discusses document production issues we have confronted with Maricopa County and the EIU’s ongoing review of the Senate’s audit reports and other complaints. The rest of this report then sets forth our election integrity concerns and recommendations in the areas of early-ballot signature verification, ballot drop boxes, use of private grant monies by election officials, election document preservation and transparency, and our ongoing actions to defend election integrity in active litigation.

Mark Brnovich Interim Report – Maricopa County November 3, 2020 General Election PDF