Skip to content

What’s the Endgame for the Arizona Audit?

The Republican "audit" of presidential ballots in Arizona is proceeding apace. However, thanks to the rigorous approach they're taking the job is still only 10% done. So don't expect final results anytime soon.

But I'm curious about something. After they've finished X-raying the ballots; shoving them into a mass spectrometer; inspecting them with an electron microscope; conducting random MRI tests; performing ink analyses; checking for nanoparticles; examining them for radioactive trace elements; hydrolyzing a few samples to check for free radicals—after they've done all this, what happens if they still can't figure out a way to plausibly toss out enough ballots to give Trump a win? What then?

Will they say they were "just asking questions" and were never trying to overturn anything in the first place? Will they invent a whole bunch of "discrepancies" and then claim no one will ever know who really won? Or, when the end is obviously near, will they regretfully announce they've run out of money and can't complete the job?

Just wondering.

62 thoughts on “What’s the Endgame for the Arizona Audit?

  1. Special Newb

    What? They'll just invent stuff. They haven't needed plausibility before why would they need it now?

    1. J. Frank Parnell

      FREEDUMB means just that to the bat shit crazies running the Arizona audit; no need to stick to reality in announcing their results. We all know reality has a liberal bias.

  2. Dana Decker

    These people have zero integrity. They'll come up with something.

    On Friday, the Maricopa County Twitter account had a devastating thread showing how awful their current behavior is:

    maricopacounty/status/1393273947513266177

    I recommend Kevin check it out.

    1. Dana Decker

      Re Kevin's: "will they regretfully announce they've run out of money and can't complete the job"

      Maricopa County complained that they "Took a contract without an end date".

      On Twitter:
      maricopacounty/status/1393332591781048321

  3. cld

    They'll either try to disqualify a bunch of them by an act of obvious imagination they'll stick by until the end of time, or they'll say they're real ballots but fakely produced and they've been prevented from proving this by the onerous restrictions they had to labor under, like having to make public what they're doing, and the actual real ballots were all burned in a suspicious incinerator on the edge of town, and they'll narrow that down to a one shady candidate incinerator which will be forced out of business, the owner hounded by lunatics for the rest of his life.

    1. iamr4man

      They are already investigating the conspiracy theory that Trump placed watermarks on the ballots. Trump hasn’t denied this, so it must be true. They are not finding watermarks, and therefore it’s obvious that the ballots were replaced by the Democrats. But Trump caught them!
      Also their equipment found bamboo in the fibers of the paper. Proof that the Democrats are traitors in league with Chi-Nah. Lock them up.

      1. cld

        This must be the real reason they want to ban people waiting in line from having water, because then they'd be able to fake watermark their ballots.

      2. Altoid

        (smacks self upside the head) Of course! The missing watermark that we have to believe was there on the *real* ballots because a serial liar says so! Sheer brilliance.

      3. Mitch Guthman

        I have found this particular claim to be the most illuminating of the Trumpkins mindset. If this claim is true (it isn’t) then it means that Donald Trump had access to the ballots before the election and was able to tamper with them. Gives new meaning to the phrase “election integrity”.

        If the Democrats were smart, they’d lunch a full scale FBI investigation into this scandal. Complete with dragging Republicans and Trump himself before a vast array of televised congressional hearings. Hardball really isn’t in their nature, which is why Democrats may keep winning more votes for another couple of elections but they’re basically doomed.

      4. ScentOfViolets

        "Ahh, but the strawberries! That's - that's where I had them. They laughed at me and made jokes, but I proved beyond the shadow of a doubt and with - geometric logic - that a duplicate key to the wardroom icebox DID exist! And I'd have PRODUCED that key if they hadn't've pulled the Caine out of action!"

        -- Captain Queeg

  4. kgus

    Expect badly written and edited "reports" claiming fraud which will be attested to by the "professional" investigators. Unfortunately, the "evidence" will be compromised by previous "Democrat chicanery" and the "methodology" can't be fully revealed due to "patents and trade secrets." I'm taking bets.

  5. Chondrite23

    It is curious what excuse they will come up with, but I don't really care. It is like asking what excuse a five year old will come up with for spilling his soft drink on the sofa. It could be entertaining, but it will be meaningless.

    My guess is that they will somehow find that Trump won. No serious person will believe them. It won't change the election, but that is not the point. The point is to throw sand in the gears. The point is to give cover to the various states instituting draconian voting laws. The point is to give cover to the House Republicans to vacate Biden's victory in 2024, just in case they can take back the House in 2022.

    The Republican's are laying the groundwork for a Putsch in 2024. My hope is that when Trump and other members of his gang are arrested, tried, convicted and jailed this will temper their appetite for illegality.

  6. illilillili

    When there's an Endgame for the Flat Earth Society, then there will be an Endgame for both Benghazi and the Arizona Audit.

  7. iamr4man

    The point of the audit isn’t to find something. The point is to destroy democracy in this country. The way they are trying to do this is to make everyone believe that elections are rigged and the count can’t be relied on. They are succeeding.

    1. Jasper_in_Boston

      They're certainly not succeeding in making "everyone believe that elections are rigged." I think vanishingly few non-MAGA fans believe that Biden stole the election and that Trump won.

      I suspect a lot of the people involved in this audit are actual true believers, though, who do think that's what happened. So they're sincerely trying to prove fraud.

      One flashing red sign that the crazy isn't just a cynical act -- but is a sincere pathology -- is the vaccination totals of Republican House members. I don't recall the specific figure, but it's shockingly low. These are well-paid, and usually decently educated people with access to real information vetted by professionals. And the bulk of them apparently think covid isn't dangerous or the vaccines are dangerous.

      Anyway, it won't matter if Biden takes Arizona or Georgia again -- or indeed flips Texas and Florida -- in Republicans take both houses in 2024. We now have a parliamentary system as far as the GOP is concerned, and the legislative branch decides who runs the government.

      1. bbleh

        The claimed vaccination totals of Republican House members.

        I'm entirely certain that a large number of those who say they are standing tall against the COVID hoax and the tyranny of elitist scientists actually hustled their well-cushioned asses to the clinic and got their shots as soon as they could.

        They know perfectly well that a lot of their followers are stupid, but only a few of them are actually that stupid themselves.

      2. iamr4man

        Not just the previous election, but elections in general. One way they are doing this is their attempts, so far pretty successful, to make it harder for people who vote for Democrats to vote. And to purge all but the most loyal Trumpests from power. Do you think that Republican officials supervising the next election won’t do Trump’s bidding next time? I suspect that next time they will “find” the votes necessary.
        See, it’s working.

    2. J. Frank Parnell

      "The point is to destroy democracy in this country."

      And if they can raise a few millions from their gullible minions, it's all gravy.

  8. kahner

    " Will they invent a whole bunch of "discrepancies" and then claim no one will ever know who really won?"
    Yes. They will also say they couldn't prove that the original lies were proven wrong, just that they couldn't tell for sure. And the ongoing "search for proof" will forever be a trumper storyline just like obama's fake birth certificate.

    1. MontyTheClipArtMongoose

      I still want to meet the two crack private investigators El Jefe sent to Hawai'i in 2010 to sniff out Obummmer's parentage (or lack thereof).

  9. kenalovell

    I expect they will dress up a series of factoids as evidence the result was impossible without widespread vote rigging. If it was a legitimate exercise, that would trigger a criminal investigation to unravel the conspiracy and indict those responsible. Nothing of the kind will happen, of course, because the law enforcement agencies have better things to do with their time than conduct wild goose chases and then get slammed for incompetence or corruption for their trouble. However the massive Trumpropaganda network will have material for endless smirking rebuttals of the claims there was no evidence of widespread fraud.

    This is about the next election, not the last one. Its purpose is to justify whatever vote suppression measures Trump Republicans can dream up, and to provide an excuse for the legislature to interfere in and perhaps directly control the voter certification process.

  10. gVOR08

    First the “auditors” will cash their checks. They are, first and foremost, Republican grifters. Second, the state senators will sleep better knowing they’ve pulled off a successful pander to their GOP base. Third, they will fling a lot of poo around about woulda, coulda, mighta, that red state legislatures will use to push the ALEC/Heritage Action legislative proposals to give said legislatures leverage over election officials.

    1. lawnorder

      I would suggest that the auditors are, first and foremost, grifters, and Republicans distantly second if at all. Talking a good Republican game is part of the grift, because Republicans are easy marks.

  11. Salamander

    It's easy enough to mark in the "Trump" oval on any ballots that don't have a choice for President. It's also easy to mark in the "Trump" oval for ballots with "Biden" selected, thus spoiling them so they don't count at all.

    These folks have made their "counters" sign NDAs, and they've been throwing out reporters and disallowing observers. By the time the "Cyber Ninjas" finish with their "count", those ballots will have become worthless as actual records of the election.

  12. pjcamp1905

    Putting Trump in office is not the point. The reason it is going so slowly is that they don't need a result today. They need it some time around next October.

  13. akapneogy

    " .... after they've done all this, what happens if they still can't figure out a way to plausibly toss out enough ballots to give Trump a win? What then?"

    By then another red herring will emerge to string the MAGAworld along. Benghazi was just one of many "outrages."

  14. Vog46

    I would think - given the deep partisan divides in this country, coupled with the fact that NO ONE can keep their moths shut - especially when it proves THEM right that we would have heard by now if there was enough wide spread fraud in AZ to even remotely come close to changing the election result.

    We would have seen stories already - 100 vote discrepancy found in one precinct voting machine - algorithm favoring DEMs found in another

    The fact that we haven't heard anything except republicans beginning to think this whole thing is fraudulent is making me believe that maybe Biden's margin of victory is INCREASING

  15. Spiny

    End? Not unless the rubes stop sending them money, or somehow they run out of crazy ass Q inspired conspiracy theories to sell to the aforementioned rubes.

    Honestly, I think that the end-game doesn't really matter to Republicans at this point. This is a proof-of-concept exercise on stealing the next election. They won when the courts (and unfortunately the Biden administration) let them start it. The precedent is established. Next time, I wouldn't be surprised if the Az legislature just uses the cyber ninja "count" as the official results with the (R) candidate of choice winning with North Korean dictator level margins.

  16. Leo1008

    Perhaps we've all grown (understandably) skeptical after 4 years of the trump admin; but, remember: there's a new presidential admin in town.

    So, does it matter what the Arizona "audit" says? They no longer have a DOJ that will rubber stamp whatever they say. I'm not enough of a lawyer to know exactly what would happen, but if the Arizona officials actually try to overturn a federal election result, wouldn't they invite the wrath of the DOJ, the FBI, and who knows how many federal judges down upon their head?

    Yes, there are still some insane republican state governments out there. But we now have competent grownups back in the white house, remember?

    1. dausuul

      If by "Does it matter?" you mean, "Is there any possibility it results in Biden being removed and Trump being reinstated?"--then, no, of course not. Even if the recount could somehow pass legal muster (which it won't), and the state of Arizona could somehow change its electoral votes months after the inauguration (which it can't), Arizona doesn't have enough EVs to flip the election result.

      The danger here is adding another big burst of fuel to the smoldering fury on the right. We've already seen that fury break out into one attempt at insurrection. That one lacked a competent leader or a coherent plan, and failed abysmally. We might not be so lucky next time.

  17. Brett

    If they don't find anything, they'll just say that found "suspicious indicators", "renewed confidence in our elections", or something like that - and refuse to publicly release the report.

  18. MindGame

    All they need is something, anything -- whether some legitimate error made or one they themselves plant -- to feed to the reich-wing media machine and get the mis-information campaign going in full swing. Go to the next state and repeat. The goal is obviously to de-legitimize Biden's win. If the republic dies in the process, oh well! With the GOP majority now firmly at ease with the Big Lie (and more than a few actively supporting it), the ground will be prepared for another group of crazies to do that "refreshing the tree of liberty" nonsense again. The GOP has become a dangerous cult that has totally given up on the democratic experiment. If liberal democracy has to be done away with in order to defeat whom they've convinced themselves to be evil personified (i.e. "us"), then so be it.

  19. D_Ohrk_E1

    How it ends: The local USAO launching a criminal investigation.

    Conducting an ad hoc audit involving actions that are highly regulated at both the state and federal levels, is risky. For the Arizona Senate President to hire these folks solely based on price, is also suspicious.

    1. MontyTheClipArtMongoose

      The Arizona State Senate GQP was feeling slighted by the Michigan Militia Political Wing getting feted at the Trump DC Hotel back in November/December.

      The Copper Staters are just acting out.

  20. Salamander

    "Just wondering."

    Well, you're onto the latest GQP tactic. "Just asking questions." An excellent way to spread FUD without actually making any assertions. No need for "evidence" - we're "just asking questions." It's time for some sarcastic Dem parody ads. Like maybe:

    "Has Rep Marjorie Greene been taking illegal hallucinogens while on the job at the US Capitol? Just asking. Is Louis Gohmert now the subject of 'Aggie jokes'? Just asking the question. Did Ted Cruz's dad really kill Jack Kennedy? Some people have been saying it; we're just asking."

    Tailor for your local elections. Ask a lot of "questions" about the Republican candidates. No need for truth or accuracy! Right?

      1. Salamander

        Good catch! With Republicans, "it has the added advantage of being true", as Henry Kissinger is alleged to have said about the latest Nixonian spin.

        1. iamr4man

          I noticed that Kevin McCarthy was pretty outspoken in condemning the January 6th insurrection. Then he visited Trump. Now it was no big deal. We know the Russians were in the Republican servers. We know they support Trump. What did Trump tell McCarthy?
          Just asking.

          1. Jasper_in_Boston

            The view I keep seeing is that it's not so much primary challenges that's got Republicans in Congress running scared as it is the threat (by Trump) to deliberately take down the GOP by actively campaigning against them as a party (under this scenario I'd guess Trump actually starts his own party).

            They fear, quite plausibly, this would constitute a devastating political development or Republicans. Trump obviously cares not a whit for the party that nominated him. His only concern is himself, so any such threats are credible. Surely he'd be only too happy to see the GOP destroyed if it dared cross him.

          2. J. Frank Parnell

            We report, you decide: Putin meets with Trump, Trump meets with McCarthy, nobody feels comfortable disclosing what was discussed.

    1. iamr4man

      Have you noticed that when you talk about democracy to Republicans nowadays that they like to point out that this country is not a democracy? That seemed to happen all at once.

      1. Salamander

        Yes, they've been leaning on the "republic" label, which at least is on-brand (heh). They've said that your input to the government process, as a citizen and voter, is just voting. Once your (Republican) official takes office, you've become irrelevant to the process and you've got no grounds to ask for favors, promote or oppose legislation, or complain.

        (Unless accompanied by the right level of "campaign contribution", of course. They believe in the "free market"!!)

        1. iamr4man

          And since we can’t assure the integrity of the vote we will have to suspend voting, for the time being and overturn any fraudulent election. All elections won by Democrats are obviously fraudulent.

      2. Jasper_in_Boston

        Republicans don't have time for dog-whistles these days. And what's more their base doesn't, either. They want raw meat, the bloodier the better.

  21. Mitchell Young

    Are they really doing all that mass spectrometer, nano-particle stuff? Or is that just hyperbole, like 'voter suppression'?

Comments are closed.