2021 Maricopa County presidential ballot audit

Map of Maricopa County, Arizona, the jurisdiction for which ballots were audited

The 2021 Maricopa County presidential ballot audit, commonly referred to as the Arizona audit, was an examination of ballots cast in Maricopa County during the 2020 United States presidential election in Arizona initiated by Republicans in the Arizona State Senate and executed by private firms. Begun in April 2021, the audit stirred controversy due to extensive previous efforts by former president Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the election, and due to assertions of rule violations and irregularities in the conduct of the recount,[1] leading to claims that the audit was essentially a disinformation campaign.[2][3][4] In June 2021, Maggie Haberman of The New York Times and Charles Cooke of National Review reported that Trump had told associates that based on the results of the audit, he would be reinstated as president in August 2021.[5]

From the beginning of the audit, several concerns surfaced, including how the audit was being conducted, its legality, the conduct of auditors, and security issues at the site.[6] The audit spawned interest in pursuing similar efforts in other states, causing the United States Department of Justice to warn Republican legislatures of potential violations of federal law.[7][8] Conspiracy theory issues also arose as many commentators across the political spectrum characterized the effort as a sham or "fraudit" that was an element of the false claim that the presidential election had been stolen from Trump.

The auditors released a report in September 2021, finding no proof of fraud and that their ballot recount increased Biden's margin of victory by 360 votes.[9][10][11]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference AP May 10 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Parks, Miles (June 3, 2021). "Experts Call It A 'Clown Show' But Arizona 'Audit' Is A Disinformation Blueprint". NPR.org. Archived from the original on August 1, 2021. Retrieved August 1, 2021.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference funke was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cooke, Charles C. W. (June 3, 2021). "Maggie Haberman Is Right". National Review. Archived from the original on August 13, 2021. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
  6. ^ Cooper, Jonathan J.; Christie, Bob (April 25, 2021). "Election conspiracies live on with audit by Arizona GOP". Associated Press. Archived from the original on August 18, 2021. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
  7. ^ Healy, Jack; Wines, Michael; Corasaniti, Nick (September 24, 2021). "Republican Review of Arizona Vote Fails to Show Stolen Election". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 24, 2021. Retrieved September 24, 2021 – via NYTimes.com.
  8. ^ Benner, Katie (July 28, 2021). "Justice Dept. Warns States on Voting Laws and Election Audits". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 3, 2021. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
  9. ^ Eric, Bradner; Rappard, Anna-Maja (September 24, 2021). "Final report from partisan Arizona review confirms Biden defeated Trump in Maricopa County last November". CNN. Archived from the original on September 24, 2021. Retrieved September 25, 2021.
  10. ^ Healy, Jack; Wines, Michael; Corasaniti, Nick (September 24, 2021). "Republican Review of Arizona Vote Fails to Show Stolen Election". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on September 24, 2021. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
  11. ^ Leary, Alex (September 24, 2021). "Arizona GOP's Election Audit Confirms Biden Win in Draft Report". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Archived from the original on September 24, 2021. Retrieved September 24, 2021.