A Democrat-appointed judge ruled in favor of Republicans on Wednesday, allowing the 2020 election audit to move forward against Democrats’ wishes.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Daniel Martin dismissed Democrats’ temporary restraining order aimed at halting the state’s audit of over 2 million 2020 election ballots, The Associated Press reported, adding that Judge Martin said there was not enough evidence presented to show that voters would be harmed by currently implemented audit procedures.
The AP outlined: “The Arizona Democratic Party and Maricopa County Supervisor Steve Gallego tried to halt the audit by filing an emergency restraining order last Thursday, a day before the count was supposed to begin. The lawsuit alleged Republican Senate President Karen Fann and another GOP senator promised a judge that they would protect the secrecy of the ballots and voter privacy. The lawsuit also alleges that Fann and Sen. Warren Peterson’s assurances were ‘illusory’ because they’ve outsourced the recount to an ‘inexperienced third party with clear bias.’”
“The temporary pause fell through Friday evening, however, after the Arizona Democratic Party said it would not post the $1 million bond that the judge requested to cover any expenses that the Senate faced caused by the halt,” the report added.
Additionally, Judge Martin ruled that Cyber Ninjas, the third party group conducting the vote audit, must make their procedures public, barring a successful appeal on Thursday. Cyber Ninjas had filed a motion on Sunday to keep their methods private.
“Maricopa County Superior Court Judge has *denied* Cyber Ninjas request to have their processes for the #azaudit done under seal,” reported Fox 10’s Matt Galka, adding, “This means the processes have to be made public. Judge has stayed the order until tomorrow at noon, giving Cyber Ninjas time to appeal.”
This means the processes have to be made public. Judge has stayed the order until tomorrow at noon, giving Cyber Ninjas time to appeal
— Matt Galka Fox 10 (@MattGalkaFox10) April 28, 2021
Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs’ office was also granted permission to inspect the audit.