AP Photo/Matt York, Pool
- Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs has told Maricopa County to decommission its voting machines.
- In a letter, Hobbs said she had "grave concerns" the equipment had been compromised by Cyber Ninjas.
- The private company took custody of the machines as part of a Republican-led "audit."
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
Any voting machines that have come into the hands of people carrying out a Republican-led "audit" of the 2020 presidential contest are no longer safe to be used in future elections, Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs said in a letter Thursday to officials in Maricopa County.
Earlier this year, Arizona's GOP-controlled Senate chose the private firm, Cyber Ninjas, to carry out another count of the ballots in Maricopa County, which President Joe Biden won by more than 45,000 votes. That decision was made over the objections of the county's Republican-controlled Board of Supervisors, which noted the 2020 election had already been audited more than once by credible firms.
Cyber Ninjas has no experience in elections work and is led by a man who promoted false, pro-Trump conspiracy theories last fall. It is currently conducting an "audit" that has included efforts to detect bamboo in ballots as part of an apparent effort to demonstrate they were fraudulent and made in China. It also has custody of the equipment that was used to count those votes.
In Thursday's letter, provided to Insider by the secretary's office, Hobbs wrote that she has "grave concerns regarding the the security and integrity of these machines," saying that the chain of custody had been irrevocably "compromised."
After consulting with the US Department of Homeland Security, Hobbs wrote, she was recommending they "not be reused in future elections."
"Rather, decommissioning and replacing those devices is the safest option as no methods exist to adequately ensure those machines are safe to use," she added.
Hobbs, a Democrat who has received death threats over her role in certifying President Biden's victory in 2020, said no member of her staff was allowed to observe Cyber Ninjas' handling of the election equipment, a lack of transparency that may have allowed the machines to be altered.
"[M]y office did not reach this decision lightly," Hobbs wrote. "However, given the circumstances and ongoing concerns regarding the handling and security of the equipment, I believe the county can agree that this is the only path forward to ensure secure and accurate elections in Maricopa County in the future."
A spokesperson for the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, Fields Moseley, told Insider the letter "is being reviewed by our attorneys," who will advise officials on their next steps. He added the county "will not use any of the returned tabulation equipment unless the county, state, and vendor are confident that there is no malicious hardware or software installed on the devices."
Dominion Voting Systems, whose equipment is used in Maricopa County, said it shared concerns about Cyber Ninjas' handling of its machines.
"There are real concerns about what the unaccredited 'auditors' have done to Maricopa County's voting equipment, and whether the machines remain useable for future elections," a spokesperson for the company told Insider. "What we do know, without a doubt, is that the secure chain of custody has been broken."
Hobbs' letter follows another, from the US Justice Department's Civil Rights Division to Arizona state Senate President Karen Fann, which likewise expressed "concerns" over the integrity of Cyber Ninjas' practices. Arizona Democrats have been more forceful, describing it as a "sham audit" intended to justify new restrictions on voting.
Have a news tip? Email this reporter: [email protected]