Senate Liaison explains why they are Auditing Election

The senate-ordered audit of Maricopa County ballots must be put on hold on May 14 as the location where it is being held will host scheduled graduations. We will talk to Ken Bennett, the Senate Liaison for the Maricopa County Ballot Audit, about the plans for continuing the count of ballots. 

We asked if he can assure the Maricopa County residents that the ballots are secure. He said he can say the ballots have been secure. He said they have been very careful with the ballots. He said Cyber Ninjas hired others that have done audits for other places around the country.

He said most of the people are Arizonians that were hired and are sitting at the table auditing. He goes through the process they take to audit the ballots. He said it is very consistent and reliable. We ask why they are doing this and if the ballots are compromised. He said they are doing this because people deserve to know if their election was counted correctly. 

Bennett said they are asking the questions that people are wondering and figuring them out. He explained they are looking at if there was anything unaccounted for. He talked about election integrity and when the election integrity went wrong. We asked if he is concerned about how Arizona looks by doing this audit that many think are not needed. 

We talked about the audit that was one and why they don’t think it was good enough. The senate said this had nothing to do with overturning the 2020 election but to ensure that the Arizona Election system is trustworthy for the next election. 

We compare the 2016 election and the 2020 election. The system is intended to be audited, he said. Bennett also said he believes this should be the new standard and that election integrity should always be checked and audited.