In what could potentially be the most anticipated and consequential election audit in recent memory, auditors in Arizona have completed their hand-recount of the over 2.1 million ballots. A staggering number of ballots have been newly documented on a hundred thousand tally sheets. At this time, the conclusions being drawn are preliminary, but claims are being made that there was a deficit of nearly 200,000 votes that were either not counted or miscounted in the original total back in November.
Needless to say at this point that people already have their minds made up about the conclusions soon to be drawn.
The audit, which has experienced shake-ups in those overseeing it, is viewed by eager onlookers as being a partisan hack-job or a justifiable and necessary review depending on who you ask. However, it is, in fact, in part due to less partisan ballot results that have further obscured the findings. According to a prior report, approximately 100,000 ballots were marked for local and/or state level democrat candidates, as well as Trump, or for lesser GOP candidates but not for Trump.
Biden reportedly won Arizona by 10,457 votes.
Arizona is not the only state that has been undergoing continual audits; Wisconsin, Michigan, New Hampshire, Georgia, and Pennsylvania have yet to reach a definitive conclusion to their ongoing election audits. In the case of Arizona, appear confident that the unearthed findings are enough to act on. The released data will surely be as hotly and widely contested as the election itself.
So the questions must be asked – what if the findings are truly significant? How meaningful would the courts find the audit results? How would the wider public at home and abroad react to them? To what degree would polarize factional unrest heat up if things swing more in one direction than another?
We may see soon enough.