The controversial Donald Trump-initiated review of the US election ballot papers in Arizona is ongoing. This could pose immense costs to the state.
Phoenix / Washington DC – Almost six months have passed since the 2020 US election. The election defeat is still causing frustration among Republicans for former US President Donald Trump. They suspected election fraud several times, and they refused to accept the result. The party had the ballot papers counted several times: This is what happened in the state of Arizona, in the southwest of the USA.
More than two million ballot papers as well as the corresponding voting machines and hard drives were checked within a very short time. The decision to investigate was made by the Arizona Senate, in which the Republicans hold a 16:14 majority. A private company called “Cyber Ninjas” was commissioned. But this counting odyssey initiated by Donald Trump could now cost the state dearly.
US election 2020: Donald Trump’s jumble of counting causes immense costs
As the US news portal Rawstory.com reports, the voting machines are now unusable for future elections after the long counting process in Arizona. Arizona’s Democratic Foreign Minister Katie Hobbs wrote a letter to the most populous district in the state, Maricopa County in the metropolis of Phoenix, saying that new voting machines had to be purchased.
She also stated that all voting machines given to the Republican Party’s investigation should be replaced. Specifically, the letter addressed “serious concerns about the safety and integrity of these machines”. The reason: The security chain, a critical security standard in elections in the USA, is said to have been endangered when the machines were in the hands of the “Cyber Ninjas” company. “The election officials don’t know what was done with the machines,” Hobbs said.
The purchase of new voting machines in Maricopa County will cost several million US dollars, according to the Washington Post newspaper. Not wanting to make such an expensive decision lightly, Hobbs sought an expert opinion. According to her own statements, the Secretary of State consulted the relevant cyber security departments of Homeland Security, the US Department of Homeland Security. There, too, a unanimous recommendation is said to have been made not to use the devices in future elections.
“Spectacle that harms us all”: Donald Trump’s US election investigation not concluded
In the 2020 US election, the current US President Joe Biden narrowly prevailed against former incumbent Donald Trump in Maricopa County. The Democrats and their candidate Mark Kelly also won the Senate election in the district. After losing the election, Republicans in many parts of the United States had doubts about the legal count. This was followed by an extensive election review, but no evidence of election manipulation could be presented. In Maricopa County, too, no inconsistencies were found in two investigative procedures.
As reported by the Washington Post, the company “Cyber Ninjas” had not only dealt with the voting machines, but also dedicated itself to a new counting of votes by hand. Accordingly, this has not yet been completed. Even UV light and microscopes are said to have been used. The Republican leadership in Maricopa County had recently described the investigation process as “a spectacle that harms us all”. This would encourage citizens to distrust the elections. This weakens the democratic republic, it was said. In any case, the Republicans in Arizona fear for the future of their party – also because of Donald Trump. (Yannick Little)
