May 1, 2021 – 10: 18 p.m.
The Arizona Senate-ordered recount of nearly 2.1 million Maricopa County general election ballots could stretch beyond May 14, which is when it originally was estimated to conclude.
Senate liaison and former Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett said Saturday there was “no deadline” for the audit and that the recount may need to be paused May 14 when Veterans Memorial Coliseum is reserved to host several Phoenix high schools graduations.
The audit, headquartered at the coliseum at the state fairgrounds, would resume about a week later, Bennett said, adding that the Senate has talked with state fair officials and has permission to use the space “for as long as we need it” after the graduations.
The backpedaling comes just days after Bennett told reporters he was confident workers would wrap up by May 14, and despite plans to increase the number of ballot counters and shifts starting May 3.
Bennett could offer no estimate on the number of ballots recounted as of Saturday.Time intensive processHand counters reviewed ballots at about 20 tables on Saturday.
One of the tables of five people — one person placing each ballot on a turnstyle, three people counting and one person removing each ballot — counted about 50 ballots in 12 minutes.
The downtime before counting more ballots began was about 10-12 minutes.The next batch of about 50 ballots took about 16 minutes to get through.
Bennett said staffing from temp agencies should be in place to up that to 46 counting tables on May 3, which would more than double the number of counters from 60 to 138 per shift.
Instead of two shifts per day, counters would fill three shifts, Bennett said.
Bennett declined to estimate how long it might take to complete the recount once they get to that staffing level. “We have as much time as we need to do it right,” he said.
The full audit includes a hand count of the presidential race and U.S. Senate race on nearly 2.1 million ballots, an analysis of voter information and an audit of the county’s voting technology.
The Arizona Democratic Party and County Supervisor Steve Gallardo filed a lawsuit to stop the recount pushed by Republican senators, saying it violated election laws and lacked protections to secure the ballots as well as voter privacy.
While the audit continues, a Superior Court judge ordered the private contractors overseeing the audit for the Senate to disclose its policies and procedures.
Two observers from the state Secretary of State’s Office were on the floor watching the process on Saturday.
Regarding the Arizona Senate’s audit, Hursti said, “You can’t provide a quality, thorough study with those working hours and that cost.”
The Senate is paying Cyber Ninjas $150,000 in taxpayer money, although unknown donors also are putting money toward the audit.
Logan has said the audit would cost more than $150,000, but he has refused to answer how much more or who would fund it.
A new private organization recently sprouted up seeking $2.8 million to pay for the process.
FundTheAudit.com says it already has raised $1 million but does not list the donors.
Maricopa County election audit could last weeks longer than expected, ‘has no deadline’
