In an intriguing legal battle, an Arizona court is weighing a decision involving a nonprofit’s request for election records from Santa Cruz County. The nonprofit, AUDIT-USA, faced an unexpected lawsuit from the county after requesting these records in 2022.
The core of the dispute lies in AUDIT-USA’s request for voting records, which the county did not fulfill. Instead, Santa Cruz County took the unusual step of suing the nonprofit, seeking judicial clarity on whether these records qualify as public documents.
Ken Bennett, Chair of AUDIT-USA and a former Arizona Secretary of State, expressed surprise at the county’s legal action. “Instead of giving us the records, they filed a lawsuit against us for asking for public records. It’s the most bizarre thing I’ve ever seen,” Bennett remarked.
During a recent hearing, Santa Cruz County argued that it does not intend to block the records request. However, the county is uncertain whether fulfilling the request would contravene legal guidelines.
Division Two of the Arizona Court of Appeals issued a draft decision in the nonprofit’s favor on Oct. 9, though a final ruling is yet to be made. The hearing’s tone appeared unfavorable toward the county’s position.
Judge Peter Eckerstrom challenged the county’s approach, stating, “You’re saying that we should rule as a matter of law that anytime someone files a public records request that in your bag of options is not to say yes or no. There’s a third option: file a lawsuit against them?” He cautioned that such a precedent might deter future public records requests due to potential legal costs.
The initial case was filed in Pima County Superior Court, highlighting the unusual nature of the county’s legal strategy.
John Brakey, Director of AUDIT-USA, criticized the lawsuit, saying, “This sends a terrible message to the public: that you need to be fearful of your government suing you for asking questions.” The county has not provided any comments on the matter.
The requested records, known as “cast voter records,” detail anonymous voting patterns in a spreadsheet format. Bennett explained that AUDIT-USA’s intention is to offer a means for the public to verify the accuracy of ballot counting.
In a briefing, Bennett and Brakey discussed the potential impact of accessing these records. Bennett stated, “In any county in Arizona or nationwide for that matter [people] can sit down and verify that the votes on these ballots are correctly reflected in the cast vote record, and that the results the county gave us are accurate. That’s all we’re trying to do.”
Brakey added, “And in Ken’s plan, the fifth part of that whole plan —” before Bennett interjected, “Well, let’s not get into that right now —” Brakey continued, “Well, there’s a ballot library. If you don’t believe the images you can pull a few and look at ’em! Why not? We’re fighting the cynicism that’s destroying our country.”
Bennett’s involvement with AUDIT-USA follows his role as the Arizona Senate’s “audit liaison” during the 2020 Maricopa County election audit, a process that followed former President Donald Trump’s false claims of election fraud. The audit confirmed President Joe Biden’s victory by a slightly larger margin than initially reported.
Brakey, who worked alongside Bennett during the audit, continues to collaborate with him at AUDIT-USA, which Bennett joined approximately a year ago.
