Arizona's latest audit attempt isn't credible

The thing about audits is that the reviewing process has to be more trustworthy -- more precise -- than the original process. Just like you can't use a 1950s mercury thermometer to calibrate a modern digital thermometer, it's useless to have an audit that's less reliable than the original count.
But that's exactly what Arizona is doing with Maricopa County's 2020 election ballots. [Source]

While -- in theory -- I welcome the idea of an audit to validate that state's election results, Arizona's actions are only muddying the waters.

1. The private contractor doing the audit has a no reputation, even among Republicans in its home state.
   
   The vice chair of the Republican Party in Florida (where Cyber Ninjas is based) said they'd never heard of it nor its president (Doug Logan) before. That's weird because Florida is a big battleground state, and 20 years ago that the presidential election hung on Florida's results. Seems like they'd want someone with a reputation. [Source]
   
   
2. They're clearly amateurs at this. Originally scheduled to conclude in only 16 days, the audit now has no deadline.
   
   "Cyber Ninjas CEO Doug Logan, who has a history of posting unsubstantiated claims of election fraud online, initially said he expected the hand count to take 16 days and to provide a full report in 60 days."
   
   Yet Senate audit liaison and former Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett said there was "no deadline" for the audit. [Source]
   
   The original 16 days would have allowed them to wrap up a hand count of 2.1 million ballots before area high schools did their graduation ceremonies. Now they'll have to pause, pack everything away, and then unpack everything to get back to work. To have overlooked that kind of constraint ... seems like they were more interested in winning the bid than they were about the integrity of the process.
   
   
3. Security is lax and there's little transparency.
   
   "The Senate and private contractors hired to conduct the recount failed to ensure the physical security of ballots by keeping doors unlocked and allowing unauthorized persons to access the ballot storage facility at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum." [Source]
   
   Cyber Ninjas is also requiring volunteers to sign non-disclosure agreements, in an effort to control disclosures of confidential information. However, what exactly constitutes "confidential" information is not specified. [Source]
   
   Similarly, Cyber Ninjas has tried to keep its policies and practices from public view. It took a court order to overrule their claims of legislative privilege and proprietary trade secrets before they could reach the level of transparency seen in the original election. [Source]
   
   
4. The auditing company is far from unbiased.
   
   Cyber Ninjas CEO Doug Logan drafted a document called "Election Fraud Facts & Details" for Sydney Powell "promoting various disproven or baseless conspiracy theories about the election, including claims against the company whose ballot tabulation machines he’ll tasked with inspecting." [Source]
   
   That's not what unbiased and fair agents do.

So while I would love to see an audit that would put the matter of the 2020 election to rest, it seems unlikely that Cyber Ninjas is up to the task.

That's a shame. Even after this audit, Arizona's reputation for election integrity will still be questioned.