Wednesday, January 13, 2021
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Statement from Senate President Fann on new subpoenas issued
"On December 15, 2020, Senate Judiciary Chair Eddie Farnsworth and I issued a subpoena to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, calling for them to produce and permit inspection of election equipment and software used in the most recent general election. Contrary to the County's claims that the Senate was only interested in overturning election results, there were three reasons for issuing the subpoenas. Many voters questioned the accuracy of the extremely close results in the presidential election and we wanted to respond to their concerns by auditing those results and confirming the outcome. Secondly, if the audit of the results demonstrated significant fraud or irregularities, we would forward that information to Congress to take appropriate action regarding recognition of presidential electors. Finally, we wanted to determine if any election laws should be amended to solve any problems we discovered from the audit. After being assured it could be done in a relatively quick manner, we called for them to comply by December 18. The Board refused to comply.
With the swearing-in of the new legislature on January 11, new Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Warren Petersen and I issued subpoenas to Maricopa County leaders on Tuesday, January 12. They were again ordered to comply with our request by 9 a.m. Wednesday. Once again, they did not produce any of the election documents requested. A short time after their refusal this morning, the Superior Court Judge presiding over the case reinforced that the issuing of Senate subpoenas for the purpose of reforming election law is 'a valid legislative purpose'.
It is disheartening that the Board continues to thwart our attempt to gain access to vital information in order to further legally valid legislative purposes, confirming the results of the election and investigating whether we need to modify statutes regarding the voting process. We have attempted to partner with the Board on this issue. Supervisors have consistently rebuffed us, even going so far as to file a court action to quash our subpoenas.
The judge has given the parties one week to arrive at a resolution."
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