Fact check: Dominion attorneys did not try to stop Arizona ballot audit

McKenzie Sadeghi, USA TODAY
·5 min read

The claim: Dominion Voting Systems had 70 attorneys in Arizona trying to stop audit of 2020 ballots

Baseless voter fraud claims targeting Dominion Voting Systems resurfaced on social media after a group of Republicans in the Arizona Senate ordered an election audit of 2020 ballots from the state's largest county.

Republican legislators say the audit will address concerns raised by their constituents about the presidential election. However, election consultants say the audit results will be inaccurate and ruin the public's confidence in the U.S. election system.

As the unofficial hand recount of nearly 2.1 million ballots took place in Maricopa County, one user took to Facebook to claim a group of 70 lawyers representing Dominion attempted to stop the audit.

False allegations surrounding Dominion, a private company supplying voting systems in 28 states, are far from new. Dominion became the target of debunked conspiracy theories that the company rigged the election and stole votes from former President Donald Trump during the 2020 presidential election.

Dominion filed defamation lawsuits against prominent Trump allies, including Fox News, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, attorney Sidney Powell and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani for spreading the falsehoods without evidence.

"Dominion had 70 attorneys in Arizona today trying to stop the audit," reads an April 21 post with over 2,000 shares and 100 reactions. "If it was honest why would you care?" The text is displayed over an image of a fictional character.

USA TODAY reached out to the Facebook user for comment.

Fact check: What's true about the 2020 election, vote counting, Electoral College

Dominion confirms claim is false

A Dominion spokesperson confirmed to USA TODAY that it does not have a 70-person team of lawyers trying to stop the audit in Arizona.

"This claim is false. There is no seventy-person team of lawyers representing Dominion in Arizona." the spokesperson said in an emailed statement, adding that Dominion "has taken no legal action to stop the audit."

"Nevertheless, the company has made it clear that publicly available information on the firms chosen to conduct the audit show they are beyond biased and do not have any experience with elections-related work,” the spokesperson said.

The head firm hired by the Arizona Senate to oversee the recount is Cyber Ninjas, whose founder has previously used social media to promote baseless election fraud claims. Other firms on the audit team include CyFIR LLC, Digital Discovery and Wake Technology Services Inc.

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Reports from local news outlets, which had reporters who signed up as volunteers to get access to the recount, make no mention of Dominion attorneys showing up to stop the audit, and the user provided no evidence to support the allegation.

Dominion notes on its site that "a thousand independent audits and recounts since Election Day in November 2020 have demonstrated the accuracy and reliability of Dominion systems."

Additionally, previous 2020 election audits conducted by Maricopa County and two independent firms found no issues with accuracy, source codes, equipment, software, and network and internet connectivity.

There are concerns about the audit regarding details on who is involved, who is paying and a lack of clear procedure and safeguards. The process started last week and a report will be issued in about 60 days, according to a March 31 press release from Arizona Senate Republicans.

USA TODAY has previously debunked false claims surrounding Dominion and voting in Arizona, finding the election was conducted fairly and the votes were counted accurately.

Fact check: Judge did not rule Dominion Voting Systems machines engineered to yield fraud

Our rating: False

The claim that Dominion had 70 lawyers in Arizona trying to stop the audit of 2020 election ballots is FALSE, based on our research. A spokesperson for Dominion confirmed it has taken no legal action to stop the audit and did not have a team of attorneys in Arizona. The audit, by a firm with a questionable reputation, is an effort by Arizona Senate Republicans to challenge the 2020 election results in Maricopa County. Previous independent audits found no evidence of widespread voter fraud.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: Dominion lawyers did not try to stop Arizona ballot audit