Arizona secretary of state raises alarm about Wi-Fi router connected to Maricopa County election audit servers

Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs raised new concerns about the GOP-led Arizona Senate's audit of the 2020 election in Maricopa County on Wednesday.

The Democrat, who has observers at the venue, said one of her experts saw a Wi-Fi router connected to audit servers on Tuesday, which could jeopardize the security of election information.

"There’s no way to ensure that ballot images, vote counts, & perhaps voter data weren’t connected to external networks or the internet," Hobbs said in a tweet.

Maricopa Arizona Audit, which asserts to be the official account for the 2020 election review, shot back: "No wireless was ever enabled."

"This was explicitly explained to the SoS observers on site. We are open to providing all passwords and access needed for a forensic investigation of the router if requested," the account added.

It is unclear who runs the account for the audit. Former Secretary of State Ken Bennett, who is the state Senate liaison for the audit, said earlier this week that volunteers are managing the Twitter account, opting not to reveal who runs the account due to privacy concerns.

Meanwhile, the audit team has been attempting to gain access to routers belonging to Maricopa County, claiming the routers were also part of the materials required to be turned into the Senate as part of a subpoena issued earlier this year.

Maricopa County Attorney Allister Adel has argued providing the county's routers "could jeopardize the security of law enforcement data," claims that have been echoed by Democratic Sheriff Paul Penzone.

Hobbs's tweet on Wednesday comes one day after GOP Chairwoman Kelli Ward said the Arizona Senate may issue subpoenas to the entire five-member Maricopa County Board of Supervisors and Penzone if their lawyers don't relent and allow the routers to be examined as part of the full forensic audit.

Bennett told a reporter on Monday that nearly 275,000 ballots have been counted so far since the audit commenced in late April.

While the lease of the Veterans Memorial Coliseum, located at the Arizona State Grounds in Phoenix, is slated to end on Friday, a spokesperson from the state fair said the state Senate could move back into the coliseum on May 23 after high school graduation ceremonies conclude, according to Andrew Oxford, a reporter for the Arizona Republic.

The Washington Examiner contacted the secretary of state's office, state fair representatives, and the Arizona Senate GOP but did not immediately receive a response.

Link to tweet from America's Audit shown above

Link to original article: Arizona secretary of state raises alarm about Wi-Fi router connected to Maricopa County election audit servers (msn.com)

MU2's Take: Find the lot of the folks blocking this effort in contempt and throw them in jail until they comply.  Stop playing nice conservative and play by their rules.