Journalists’ Roundtable: 4-30-21: Election Audit, Governor Signs Anti-Abortion Bill

The Journalists’ Roundtable discusses the state senate’s recount of Maricopa County’s presidential vote and more. Joining the roundtable is Andrew Oxford of The Arizona Republic and Steve Goldstein of KJZZ. 

This week’s Journalists’ Roundtable covered:

• Election Audit
• Audit Questions
• Governor Signs Anti-Abortion Bill
• AZ Fails to Add Congressional Seat

Election Audit

Oxford: “The Secretary of State’s office has reached an agreement to have its observers there. They were also able to send an expert in election machines to the site on Thursday. So, we are beginning to see more of the process and other people involved in the election process are able to see more of this.”

Goldstein: “From the beginning, the process has concerned a lot of people in part because the election was decided almost 6 months ago but also because it almost seemed to a number of people, not everyone, but a lot that the state senate didn’t actually expect to get a victory here and yet they did so once they got it, they weren’t sure what to do. There’s already been controversy over Cyber Ninja, so when you start off with all of that, it’s almost as though yes, there isn’t any transparency. How much of that is intentional and how much of that is them in over their heads?”

Governor Signs Anti-Abortion Bill

Goldstein: “At this point, it’s related to genetic abnormalities saying that someone is not allowed to abort if it’s because of genetic abnormalities of the unborn child or fetus. One of the major concerns for folks though is it comes down to what doctors are supposed to do. This could put physicians, it could put abortion providers into a situation where they may, in fact, face some pretty serious legal charges.”

Oxford: “I think we’ve seen a cemented majority on the Supreme Court legislatures around the country are pushing the envelope on what they can pass and I think we see this fitting with that pattern.”