Arizona Audit Firm Must Make Process Public, Judge Rules
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A judge ruled on Wednesday that Cyber Ninjas, a company hired by Arizona Republicans to conduct an additional audit of the 2020 election, would not be allowed to file their policies and procedures with the court under seal. This means that documentation around the Cyber Ninjas proposed audit tactics will be public for the people and media to read.
The audit has been highly contested after it was revealed that Cyber Ninjas was led by a “Stop the Steal” conspiracy theorist and that the firm planned to knock on voters’ doors and interrogate them about the validity of their vote. There were also concerns by the Arizona Democratic Party (ADP) that the use of outside firms to conduct the audit meant that sensitive voter information would not be kept private and secure. The ADP sued last Thursday to stop the audit, and Judge Christopher Coury set a hearing for Monday in which the continuation of the audit would be decided; that hearing was delayed until Tuesday when it was revealed that a lawyer on the Republican side had worked in Judge Coury’s office as an extern in the last five years. Judge Coury recused himself from the case.
The order is stayed until Thursday at noon to give the parties time to appeal.