An Arizona judge has ordered a temporary halt to the Maricopa County forensic audit, if Democrats pony up $1 million for any potential increase in costs.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Christoper Coury has said that the forensic audit of the 2020 election results from the Arizona county, which started on Friday, should be temporarily halted from Friday at 5 p.m. until 12 p.m. on Monday. Coury said that he would like to know the policies and procedures that are in place to confirm that the audit is legal and legitimate, following a lawsuit filed late Thursday by state Democrats.
However, Court also confirmed that he would like the Democrats to put up $1 million in order to halt the audit, to fund any potential increase in costs that would come as a result of the temporary halt. At the time of writing, there had been no response from the Democrats as to whether they were willing to pony up the money, meaning it is unclear whether the halt will in fact take place or not.
AUDIT UPDATE: Maricopa County Superior Court has ruled that AZ audit will be paused at 5PM today (to allow for appeal) until Monday 12PM IF plaintiffs provide $1million bond for damages. Judge said "The audit will proceed" but he wants to review policies and procedures in place.
— Arizona Republican Party (@AZGOP) April 23, 2021
Kory Langhofer, a lawyer for the Arizona Senate, asked for any halt to be delayed, so that the Senate would have a chance to immediately appeal the decision by Judge Coury.
This is a breaking story, and will be updated.