AZ Senate Seeks Contempt Charge In Maricopa County Election Fight

PHOENIX, AZ — Arizona Senate Republicans are moving forward with their threat to pass a contempt resolution finding that Maricopa County has not complied with a subpoena demanding access to elections equipment and ballots used in the Nov. 3 election.

The Senate introduced the resolution Wednesday afternoon. It is unclear when the senate will vote, but all 16 Republican senators are listed as sponsors of the legislation. With the GOP in control of the legislative body, it will likely pass.

The five members of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors could be arrested for failure to comply. The resolution would authorize Senate President Karen Fann to take “all legal action” needed to enforce the subpoena.

The board, of which four members are Republicans, refused to comply with the subpoenas again on Tuesday. Maricopa County courts rejected eight lawsuits filed by backers of former President Donald Trump after his loss, finding no evidence of fraud in the state.

The senate has demanded access to voting machines and all 2.1 million ballots cast in Maricopa County during the election. The board has said it won't comply because ballots are sealed by law and the voting machines need to remain secure.

Board Chairman Jack Sellers said Wednesday he was frustrated that the Senate was threatening to find the board in contempt, saying he met personally with Senate President Karen Fann and thought both sides agreed to try to settle the issue.

“I want to be clear: the county will participate in any court hearing with the Senate if they plan to argue the restrictions on ballots should be waived,” Sellers said in a statement. “Instead of suggesting that we are violating the laws the Legislature wrote, they should turn their attention to finding a solution.

“If they truly believe in the legality of their position, they will join us in seeking a solution through the courts,” Sellers said.

Steve Gallardo, the board's lone Democratic member, slammed the resolution.

“It’s shameful that the Arizona Senate issued subpoenas based off unfounded conspiracies for an election that happened 92 days ago,” he said in a statement. “It’s worse that some members are now doubling down in pursuit of these falsehoods by considering contempt charges against a body they once promised to partner with.”

Multiple tests of the voting machines were conducted before and after the election, and hand counts of a sample of ballots that showed the count was accurate. They previously fought subpoenas issued in December by the Senate Judiciary Committee with the backing of Senate President Karen Fann in court.

New subpoenas were issued after a new Legislature was sworn in on Jan. 11. No new proceedings have been initiated by either side.

The board voted last week on an audit of their own to determine if voting machines' software is subject to hacking or connected to the internet.

Documents released Wednesday by the county show that Fann has hired a firm with strong connections to the Trump campaign’s efforts to overturn election results in multiple battleground states to do its audit. The Allied Security Operations Group worked with Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani to raise baseless allegations of election fraud and counting errors in Arizona and other states.

The documents outline the work the company would do for the Senate if they are allowed access to ballots and election equipment, including recounting at least 550,000 ballots and collecting “forensic images” of software used in ballot counting machines.

Supervisor Bill Gates said in a statement he "will never be in favor” of turning over ballots without a court order.

“Not only is it illegal under Arizona state law for this Board to turn over custody of the ballots, it is also unfathomable that the Arizona Senate has hired a known, and frequently debunked, conspiracy theorist to conduct their audit,” he said in a statement posted on Twitter.

The Associated Press contributed to this reporting.