Settlement Reached in Arizona Audit Suit

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Arizona Democratic Party (ADP) and Cyber Ninjas, Inc. have reached a settlement regarding the continuation of the Maricopa County election audit. The ADP, joined by Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs (D), sued to halt the audit last month due to concerns from voting rights activists and lawyers that the firms hired by the Republican state Senate to conduct the audit, including Cyber Ninjas, would mishandle confidential voter information and infringe on voters’ rights. Last week, Cyber Ninjas was required by a judge to release documentation of their planned procedures for the audit, including how they plan to tally votes.

On Wednesday, the case was settled. The audit will be allowed to continue on a few conditions:

  • Cyber Ninjas will not carry out an additional matching comparison of early vote ballot signatures with those on file.
  • The media will be granted expanded access to the recount site.
  • The secretary of state will be allowed to send observers to the site.
  • Cyber Ninjas must adhere to the published policies they were ordered to release last week.

Hobbs released a statement about the settlement on Twitter, saying that while she was glad that it would only continue with increased transparency and the presence of observers, she remained concerned about both the process and intentions of the recount. 

Read the settlement here.