Arizona AG letter offers no proof of 2020 election fraud

FILE - Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich speaks at a news conference in Phoenix on Jan....
FILE - Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich speaks at a news conference in Phoenix on Jan. 7, 2020. Brnovich is running for the U.S. Senate. Brnovich issued an interim report Wednesday, April 6, 2022, on his review of the 2020 election in Maricopa County that outlined his concerns with some election procedures but did not provide proof of any major issues despite six months of investigation. (AP Photo/Bob Christie, File)(Bob Christie | AP)
Published: Apr. 6, 2022 at 7:48 PM MST
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PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5/AP) — Arizona’s Republican attorney general has issued an interim report on his review of the 2020 election in Maricopa County. The review released Wednesday outlines Attorney General Mark Brnovich’s concerns with some election procedures but does not provide proof of any major issues despite six months of investigation. His concerns include missing signatures or other information from forms documenting the transportation of ballots. He also says signature verification may be conducted too quickly for mail ballots.

He also blasted the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office and Maricopa County election officials over the handling of the 2020 election. He believes there should be better procedures for handling ballots when it comes to early drop boxes and calls for more time and resources to verify signatures. Brnovich also wants to expand the powers of the auditor general for future election audits and tougher penalties for election crimes.

The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors has stood by the results of the 2020 election and said it has cooperated with the Senate’s partisan audit, which also found no widespread fraud. The board said the ballots are safe and secure. “Unfortunately, the Attorney General made no mention of the many areas of the election process that his investigators reviewed and found satisfactory, including the preservation of election files and the absence of internet connectivity,” Chairman Bill Gates and County Recorder Stephen Richer said in a joint statement.

Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs’ office said Brnovich is focused on his Senate campaign and not his job at the Attorney General’s Office. “This report confirms that Attorney General Brnovich has wasted thousands of hours of time--at the taxpayers’ expense--to chase Cyber Ninja conspiracies. But instead of simply following the evidence, he speculates. Instead of clarity, he provides conjecture,” a spokeswoman for the Secretary of State’s Office said in an email

Brnovich is locked in a tough Republican primary for U.S. Senate and is courting former President Donald Trump’s endorsement.

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