Name: Arizona GOP senators sue Maricopa County over subpoenas for copies of ballots, records
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Arizona GOP senators sue Maricopa County over subpoenas for copies of ballots, records

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Arizona RepublicView CommentsRepublican state senators have filed a lawsuit asking a judge to force Maricopa County to comply with subpoenas the Arizona Legislature sent local officials last week demanding they turn over copies of every mail-in ballot counted during the election along with a pile of other records.&nbsp;The lawsuit filed by Senate President Karen Fann and Sen. Eddie Farnsworth is just the newest twist in a legal standoff between local officials and legislators, who have said they want to undertake their own audit of Maricopa County’s election, even after a perfect hand count audit and after challenges to the results withered under scrutiny in court.Members of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors have said they would support an audit of the election but also have said that ongoing litigation prohibits the sort of access to election equipment that some lawmakers have demanded.Farnsworth, a Republican from Gilbert and chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent two subpoenas to the county last week, describing them as a way of ensuring the Legislature could get an audit of the election results.Bucking the Friday deadline Farnsworth had set, the county sued to quash the subpoenas, arguing state law does not allow it to turn over some of the records the Senate demanded, such as copies of ballots. The county&nbsp;argued that the subpoenas were not even valid and amounted to a “draconian abuse of power” by the Legislature.The Senate responded by filing its own lawsuit on Monday afternoon against the Board of Supervisors, insisting that the law does not prohibit county officials from turning over any of the records it is seeking.“The Arizona Legislature, through a subpoena duly executed by a presiding officer or committee chairman of either house, may demand of any person the production of any document or record with respect to any subject matter,” the lawsuit said.While the Senate's lawsuit said that the audit legislators are seeking would bolster public confidence in the election process, it also made clear that it is not merely for the public’s reassurance but intended to influence Congress before it counts the Electoral College votes on Jan.&nbsp;6.Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Randall Warner set a hearing in the case for Wednesday afternoon. The lawsuit is not the first in Arizona stemming from calls by Republican officials for some sort of further review of the election results after President Donald Trump's defeat in the state.The Arizona Republican Party filed a lawsuit last month against the county that argued election officials had not followed the law in conducting a mandatory postelection audit.A judge dismissed the case and this week issued a 13-page ruling that called the lawsuit "meritless" and said it "offered only suspicion of wrongdoing.""The plaintiff here did not even allege facts that cast doubt on the reliability of the hand count audit, let alone the outcome of the election or the honesty of the officials who administered it," Judge John Hannah wrote.Contact Andrew Oxford at or on Twitter&nbsp;.View Comments

Arizona RepublicView CommentsRepublican state senators have filed a lawsuit asking a judge to force Maricopa County to comply with subpoenas the Arizona Legislature sent local officials last week demanding they turn over copies of every mail-in ballot counted during the election along with a pile of other records.&nbsp;The lawsuit filed by Senate President Karen Fann and Sen. Eddie Farnsworth is just the newest twist in a legal standoff between local officials and legislators, who have said they want to undertake their own audit of Maricopa County’s election, even after a perfect hand count...

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Andrew Oxford

Award-winning local news from Arizona and metro Phoenix | The Arizona Republic in the streets 🗞️,  @azcentral  in the tweets (and online) | Instagram: azcentral

Arizona GOP senators sue Maricopa County over subpoenas for copies of ballots, records

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