Cindy McCain, widow of Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain, called an audit of 2020 general election ballots in Arizona “ludicrous” on Sunday.<\/p>\n
McCain was responding to Jake Tapper, host of CNN’s “State of the Union,”\u00a0who asked if the Arizona Republican Party is\u00a0undermining democracy by recounting nearly 2.1 million presidential race and U.S. Senate race ballots in Maricopa County.<\/p>\n
“The whole thing is ludicrous, quite frankly, it’s ludicrous,” McCain replied. “This also comes from a state party in Arizona that refused to be audited themselves on votes that were cast within their own party communications.”<\/p>\n
In March, Kelli Ward, chair of the Arizona Republican Party, was sued by Republican activists for refusing to allow an audit of results and procedures challenging her win in January.<\/p>\n
Ward has promoted the Maricopa County audit launched last week\u00a0as a way to promote\u00a0election integrity. The process is being overseen by Cyber Ninjas, a Florida-based technology company, and cost taxpayers $150,000. Unknown donors are also helping\u00a0fund the effort.<\/p>\n
Company\u00a0founder Doug Logan was part of a team that\u00a0reportedly found errors designed to create fraud in voting machines\u00a0used in Antrim County, Michigan. Logan spread these unfounded allegations of fraud on Twitter using a now-deleted account.<\/p>\n
In addition to recounting ballots by hand, auditors are also\u00a0running them under an ultraviolet\u00a0light, a practice some say is to prove a conspiracy theory about “real” ballots having been watermarked.<\/p>\n
The audit could take longer than the projected May 14 deadline. Election security experts have called for federal monitoring of the process.<\/p>\n
“The election is over. Biden won,” McCain said. “I know many of them don’t like the outcome, but elections have consequences. This does not surprise me. Things are just aloof and crazy out there right now with regards to the election.”<\/p>\n
Biden carried Arizona with 50.1% of votes vs. 47.7% for former President Donald Trump. A national coalition of election security officials released a statement shortly after Election Day stating the general election was\u00a0“the most secure in American history.”<\/p>\n