The Arizona audit is wrapping up its operations and has moved out of its three-month home: the Veterans Memorial Coliseum. For about another week, audit workers will finish up in another building on the fairgrounds, the Wesley Bolin Building. Auditors will be able to use the building until July 14.
Although officials told The Arizona Sun Times that they would be finished by last Saturday, more work popped up when the county submitted additional resources that required review. Randy Pullen, a volunteer consultant to the Arizona Senate for the audit, estimated that they would be done sometime next week. He explained to The Sun Times that the county submitted log reports on duplicate ballots last minute. Those logs showed how many from every batch were taken out by the county for duplication.
“We got a log report from the county that actually showed, by batch, how many ballots had actually been removed [because of] duplication, which was different than what they noted in the boxes. So, we had to go back through everything and match what the county had sent us later,” explained Pullen.
Pullen added that security would continue – just as before they have armed guards there, 24/7. Although their lease agreement for the coliseum was up, Pullen explained that they left mainly because the facility was no longer needed.
“We essentially moved out of the coliseum because we didn’t need it anymore. The ballots had been counted [and] imaged. We’re down to the typical work you have – reviewing everything,” said Pullen.
This weekend, Pullen says that the workers won’t be tackling their remaining tasks. They’ll be taking a small break before returning next Tuesday or Wednesday.
Pullen informed The Sun Times that they still hadn’t received the router or tabulators from the county, which he explained are necessary to examine the county’s configurations.
“There’s a lot of information that we would like to get from the county that they haven’t provided that would be very helpful,” said Pullen.
There’s only been one minor issue with the move. Pullen said that the air conditioning wasn’t working sufficiently when they arrived. He explained that workers are fixing the air conditioning to ensure the ballots and equipment are in a climate-controlled environment.
According to Pullen, the plan is to have the draft report completed within 30 days and given to the state senate. After that, the senate will review and publish it.
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Corinne Murdock is a reporter at The Arizona Sun Times and the Star News Network. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to [email protected].
