Taxpayer costs continue to climb nearly three years after Arizona Senate audit. Here's how
It’s been nearly three years since the Arizona Senate launched its review of the 2020 election results, saying it would cost taxpayers $150,000.
Yet the costs to taxpayers are still mounting, nearing $5.5 million, according to a review by The Arizona Republic.
The only ongoing cost to taxpayers is legal fees in a public records lawsuit brought by The Arizona Republic. All other public expenses related to the ballot review, which ran from late 2020 until fall 2021, have been paid.
To date, the Senate has paid the law firm Statecraft nearly $700,000, public records show.
Senate President Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert, on Monday, didn’t have a timeline for how much longer the public records litigation might continue.
Private, public costs on par
The costs of the ballot review, which was colloquially called an audit, extend beyond the $5.5 million shouldered by taxpayers. Senate supporters raised at least $5.7 million from private donors to cover the costs the Cyber Ninjas incurred, even as the Ninjas’ owner, Doug Logan, said the firm had lost $2 million in the endeavor.
Following is a breakdown by category of the expenses taxpayers have covered.
The biggest public cost was to Maricopa County taxpayers: more than $3.7 million. The county paid $3.2 million to purchase new tabulation machines after the Senate took control of them and turned them over to the Cyber Ninjas for examination. Elections officials worried the machines’ integrity was compromised after Cyber Ninjas’ examination.
The remaining costs to county taxpayers came when the county hired a special master to oversee an examination of the tabulation machines, as well as technology experts to do that review. In addition, the county spent about $458,000 to hire attorneys to handle numerous public records requests related to the 2020 election.
The Senate’s expenses are about $1.7 million, with the money coming from the Senate’s taxpayer-supported budget. Some details:
The $700,000 legal bill is the Senate's biggest expense. Much of it is related to a legal fight with Maricopa County, after county officials fought against a Senate subpoena to turn over the 2 million ballots cast in the county in the 2020 election, as well as the tabulation machines used to count the ballots. The figure reflects costs related to public records lawsuits filed by The Republic as well as by American Oversight, a left-leaning watchdog agency.
$484,000 to cover security at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum, where the ballot review was staged in 2021.
$128,000 from the Senate to rent space at the Coliseum for the ballot review.
$150,000 from the Senate to Cyber Ninjas to conduct the ballot review.
$153,000 for the Senate’s settlement in late March with American Oversight. The Senate also paid $43,227 to the organization in late 2021 to cover its attorney fees, records show.
Reach the reporter at [email protected] or at 602-228-7566 and follow her on Threads as well as on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter @maryjpitzl
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: The meter is still running on the cost of the Senate election audit
