December 7, 2005

PHOENIX -- Stating that it is time to restore integrity and confidence to Arizona's election process, Senators Jack Harper, Karen Johnson, Thayer Verschoor and Ron Gould called on Maricopa County Attorney Andy Thomas to respect the legislative subpoena issued by the Senate Government Accountability and Reform Committee and direct Maricopa County Treasurer David Schweikert to comply with the legislative subpoena and release the ballots from the 2004 District 20 Republican Primary to the Committee. 

Last week, Senate Government Accountability and Reform committee chairman Jack W. Harper issued subpoenas to both the Maricopa County Recorders office and the Maricopa County Treasurer's office directing them to provide information and ballots from the District 20 Republican primary race for a review by the committee and its staff. As of today, Maricopa County Treasurer David Schweikert has indicated that his office may not comply with the valid legislative subpoena and release the ballots. Schweikert has turned over the subpoena to the Maricopa County  Attorney's office for review and has redirected all inquiries from the Committee.   

Senator Harper said, "I have every confidence that County Attorney Andy Thomas will do the right thing here. I know that he is just as concerned about the integrity of our elections as I am, and I am confident that he will not stand in the way of a valid legislative subpoena calling for the release of these ballots." 

Senator Verschoor, a member of the Government Accountability and Reform Committee, echoed Harper's comments and encouraged Maricopa County Attorney Thomas and County Treasurer Schweikert to work with the Committee Chairman to get to the bottom of the controversy surrounding the District 20 recount.

"Until we find out definitively what transpired last year in the District 20 recount, doubts will remain about the integrity of our election process," said Senator Gould. "I know that Andy Thomas shares our concerns here, and I believe that he will work with the Chairman to ensure that these ballots are released to the committee for review and analysis by the committee's staff and professional consultants."

The Senate Government Accountability and Reform Committee has retained University of Iowa professor Douglas Jones, a nationally recognized expert on voting machines and a member of the State of Iowa's Board of Examiners for Voting Machines, to conduct an independent audit of the ballots, voting machines, the programs.

"It is vitally important that we get to the bottom of this recount and find out what went wrong," said Senator Johnson. I know Andy Thomas very well. He is a man of integrity and I am confident that he would not stand in the way of efforts to protect and preserve the integrity of our elections by fighting this subpoena in court." 

Senator Harper concluded, "The circumstances surrounding the District 20 Republican Primary election last year are very troubling. The explanations provided so far by officials from the county election department are not consistent with the available evidence. As long as there remain real questions to be answered about the outcome of this race then I believe we must continue to investigate and find the truth. There is nothing more important to our system of democracy than maintaining the integrity of our elections. I am confident that Andy Thomas shares my views and that he will not allow his office to stand in the way of our attempts to find out exactly what happened last year."