As the saying goes, better late than never.
A judge ruled Friday that Maricopa County must turn over some 2.1 million ballots subpoenaed by the state’s GOP-led Senate as it investigates concerns and allegations of widespread vote fraud.
“The Court finds that the subpoenas are legal and enforceable,” Thomason wrote in his ruling, according to the Epoch Times.
“There is no question that the Senators have the power to issue legislative subpoenas,” he continued. “The subpoenas comply with the statutory requirements for legislative subpoenas. The Senate also has broad constitutional power to oversee elections.”
Maricopa—which encompasses much of the Phoenix area—had attempted to stall the turnover, first through outright defiance and later through the court challenge.
Due to influxes from states like neighboring California, as well as migrants coming from across the Mexican border, the county saw a dramatic demographic shift that flipped the longtime conservative stronghold into the blue category.
That, in turn, helped flip the entire state in favor of Democrat Joe Biden.
But poll watchers cited many examples of irregularities during the Nov. 3 election, prompting the legislature to investigate.
In addition to the examination of the ballots, the investigators also will be permitted to examine Maricopa’s election equipment.
Expert witnesses testified during a committee hearing that the equipment, managed by Dominion Voting Systems, had not been on a closed network but had communicated with servers in Frankfurt, Germany and other parts of the world on election night.
“This was always about voter integrity and the integrity of the voting system itself,” said state Senate President Karen Fann, rejecting leftist arguments that it was politically motivated.
Bill Gates, the vice-chairman of the Maricopa Board of Supervisors, signaled that the board intended to fully cooperate now that the verdict has been delivered.
He insisted that the county, which conducted its own audits, had “nothing to hide” concerning its election management.
“I trust the Senate will be completely transparent with the public as Maricopa County has been,” Gates said.
“From the beginning, the County sought clarification from the court. The court has ruled,” he continued. “I look forward to working with the Senate to provide them the information they are requesting.”
