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American Oversight sues to obtain details about Arizona's election audit
American Oversight has sued to obtain information from Arizona's election audit being conducted by state Republicans.
PHOENIX - The Arizona Senate has been sued by a watchdog group to obtain detailed records on the election audit process and lawmakers continue to try and delay turning those records over in court.
It could be a preview of what's to come as forensic audits have picked up steam in at least two other states.
The quest to get all records and communications relating to the Arizona Senate's audit is on temporary hold as a court of appeals grants a temporary stay and allowed for arguments to continue in the case where American Oversight filed a lawsuit.
American Oversight describes itself as "a non-partisan, nonprofit ethics watchdog that uses public records requests backed by litigation to expose official misconduct, threats to democracy, and abuses of power at all levels of government."
"They don’t have to release documents that are subject to an August 2nd trial court order in our favor. But we also have requested other documents and there are other issues pending before the trial court that are not stayed," explained Austin Evers with American Oversight.
As the audit winds down in Arizona, efforts in other states have picked up.
A Pennsylvania Republican Senator who visited the audit at the state fairgrounds is pushing for the same thing in his state.
Supervisors in Pennsylvania's Tioga County asked him to not create "unnecessary chaos," echoing the battle in Arizona between Maricopa County Supervisors and the state senate.
A Wisconsin State Representative who also visited Arizona recently issued subpoenas for ballots and voting equipment.
What will Arizona’s and potentially other states' audits do?
Arizona State University constitutional law professor Paul Bender says it won't do anything to change 2020 election results.
"I don’t know what the intentions were originally, but there’s no way that this audit can result in a change in Arizona’s results in the last presidential election or the election results as a whole," he said.
American Oversight, the group suing in Arizona, says they're closely monitoring what's going on in Arizona and Wisconsin and we could see similar litigation from them there.
Related Stories:
- Court orders Arizona State Senate to release records related to controversial election audit
- Maricopa County Board of Supervisors rejects subpoenas issued by Arizona State Senate in scathing letter
- 'Botched': Arizona GOP's ballot count ends, troubles persist
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