While the 2020 election is ostensibly over, there appears to still be some unfinished business to be attended to in Arizona.
Specifically, an ongoing recount of the Maricopa County ballots that is being undertaken by the AZ Republican Party, which some believe could provide clues as to how the election was possibly “stolen” from Trump, as the former President has repeatedly claimed.
Now, however, there appears to be some concern over exactly how the ballots are being handled, and it could force the DOJ to get involved.
The U.S. Department of Justice expressed concern Wednesday about ballot security and potential voter intimidation arising from the Republican-controlled Arizona Senate’s unprecedented private recount of the 2020 presidential election results in Maricopa County.
In a letter to GOP Senate President Karen Fann, the head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said the Senate’s farming out of 2.1 million ballots from the state’s most populous county to a contractor may run afoul of federal law requiring ballots to remain in the control of elections officials for 22 months.
These weren’t the only concerns, either.
The Justice Department letter came six days after voting rights groups asked federal officials to intervene or send monitors to the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix at the state fairgrounds, where the ballots are being recounted.
“We are very concerned that the auditors are engaged in ongoing and imminent violations of federal voting and election laws,” said the letter sent by the Brennan Center for Justice, the Leadership Conference and Protect Democracy.
Of course, the interjection of the federal government into the process could create further drama, as those who believe some funny business occurred during the election aren’t going to have an easy time trusting the DOJ.
