Download the report
Watch the presentation
Read Just the Facts
Today, the Maricopa County Elections Department released its report titled, Correcting the Record: Maricopa County’s In-Depth Analysis of the Senate Inquiry. It’s the final word to the Arizona Senate’s review of Maricopa County’s administration of the November 2020 General Election.
Download the report at JustTheFacts.Vote.
Correcting the Record concluded that nearly every finding by the Senate’s contractors included faulty analysis, inaccurate claims, misleading conclusions, and a lack of understanding of federal and state election laws. After an in-depth analysis and review of the reports and presentations by Cyber Ninjas, CyFIR, EchoMail, and the Senate’s Audit Liaisons, the Elections Department found:
- 22 were misleading. The claims lead the reader to assume a conclusion that is not supported by the evidence.
- 41 were inaccurate. The claims include flawed or misstated analysis.
- 13 were false. The claims are demonstrably false and can be proven false using materials provided to the Senate.
Election officials from the Elections Department and Office of the Recorder are presenting the detailed findings to the Board of Supervisors and Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer today at 1:30 p.m. (Arizona time). Watch it live here: YouTube.com/MaricopaCountyAZ. Presenters include:
- Scott Jarrett, Maricopa County Elections Department Director of In-Person Voting & Tabulation
- Celia Nabor, Maricopa County Elections Department Assistant Director of Early Voting
- Janine Petty, Maricopa County Recorder’s Office Senior Director of Voter Registration
- Nate Young, Maricopa County Recorder’s Office Information Technology Director
"This is a critical time for the American family," said Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Gates, District 3. "The people who have spent the last year proclaiming our free and fair elections are rigged are lying or delusional. Unfortunately, the Senate's inquiry made things worse by giving partisan auditors a platform to make damaging false claims based on their inexperience and biases. I'm proud of our team for correcting the record with this comprehensive report; for looking deeply into each claim made by Senate contractors so that voters who choose to learn the truth can; and for a commitment to continued improvement that will make a strong election system even stronger."
Post-election audits build trust and promote election integrity when they have bipartisan oversight and are conducted by experienced, unbiased professionals who use well-defined, proven processes. The Senate’s election review and its contractors fell far short of those standards and instead promoted disinformation and distrust. The Elections Department’s thorough report, commissioned by the Board of Supervisors and Recorder Richer, details those shortcomings and corrects the record.
“This is a technical report that proves what we have said all along – the Maricopa County November 2020 election was conducted fairly and accurately. What is not covered here, but that we should be talking about, is the human cost of what we have seen over the course of the last year. We should be talking about the effect on election workers who, for the grand offense of doing their job, have found themselves personally attacked, profiled online, told that they should be perp-walked, sent to prison, and much worse,” said Recorder Richer. “Central to our mission has been to defend the countless men and women who offered their time to make our elections work. This is wrong and dangerous on the most basic level, and we need to promote a future where these ordinary Arizonans aren’t attacked when they do their part to make democracy work.”
The Maricopa County Elections Department administered the November 2020 General Election with integrity and the results were accurate and reliable. This was proven through statutorily required accuracy tests, court cases, hand counts performed by the political parties, and post-election audits. The Elections Department followed all federal, state, and local election laws.
"No election is perfect, but what our report confirms is the November 2020 General Election in Maricopa County is about as close as you can get," said Supervisor Clint Hickman, District 4. "A record number of eligible voters participated, their votes were counted as they were cast using proven processes, and both Republicans and Democrats won local and statewide races. If one of your preferred candidates or causes lost in 2020, that's not proof of fraud; that's proof of democracy working."
"I'm so impressed with the diligence and professionalism of our elections staff. We asked them to chase down every claim made by Senate contractors, to see what might be true and what was false or misleading, and they delivered those answers in astounding detail," said Supervisor Jack Sellers, District 1. "The facts show the 2020 election was run with integrity and the Senate's 'audit' findings are not to be trusted."
The Senate’s review included a series of inaccurate reports and presentations delivered by its contractors on September 24, 2021, which called into question the integrity of Maricopa County employees and the validity of legitimate votes cast by eligible voters. This continuous release of inaccurate information required the County to develop a website to combat misinformation: JustTheFacts.Vote.
“This report reflects the countless hours our election professionals spent correcting the record once again and I am grateful for their efforts and professionalism,” said Supervisor Tom Galvin, District 2. “The report undoubtedly shows that County staff counted the votes accurately and impartially in a free and fair 2020 General Election and should give voters added confidence that future elections will be conducted with the same professionalism, accuracy and impartiality.”
"The Senate's election review was a gigantic waste of time and money all in service of the Big Lie," said Supervisor Steve Gallardo, District 5. "We ran free, fair, secure elections in 2020. This report proves it. Again. End of story."
Read Maricopa County Election Department’s analysis of Senate review.
Watch Maricopa County Elections Department analysis presentation.
Read Just the Facts.
About the Elections Department
Supported by the Board of Supervisors and Recorder’s Office, the Elections Department administers city, town, school district, special district, county, state and federal elections in Maricopa County. As the second largest voting jurisdiction in the country, the Elections Department serves more than 2.6 million registered voters. Find out more at Maricopa.Vote.
Acerca del Departamento de Elecciones
Con el apoyo de la Junta de Supervisores y la Oficina de Registro, el Departamento de Elecciones administra las elecciones municipales, del pueblo, distritos escolares, distritos especiales, del condado, estatales y federales en el Condado Maricopa. Como la segunda jurisdicción electoral más grande del país, el Departamento de Elecciones atiende a más de 2,6 millones de votantes registrados. Obtenga más información: Maricopa.Voto.