Donald Trump also lost to his rival Joe Biden in last year’s presidential election in the largest county in Arizona. That concludes an organization that Republicans asked in the state to reconsider the results. However, this does not seem to end the discussion about possible electoral fraud.
Trump has consistently maintained that fraud cost him votes in the election but could not prove that he lost through fraud. The Cyber Ninjas research even shows the opposite. Trump got 261 fewer votes than expected in Maricopa County. Biden just got 99 more, US media reports.
That county is important because Democrat Biden narrowly won the election in Arizona, where more than 7 million people live. He received about 10,000 votes more than Republican Trump in that state. In Maricopa County, the difference was greater. There, Biden ended up being about 45,000 votes ahead of his rival.
The Arizona investigation was largely funded by Trump supporters and right-wing groups. They put about 6.7 million dollars (5.7 million euros) on the table. The research results have now been presented in the Arizona Senate. “The truth is the truth, and the numbers are what they are,” said Republican Senate President Karen Fann.
Trump had already claimed in a written statement before the publication of the investigative report on Friday that the investigation had shown that “there is undeniable fraud”. Hundreds of supporters of the former president had gathered in the capital of Arizona for the official presentation of the research results.
The question is whether Trump and his supporters will be changed by the report. Although the outcome of the investigation hardly differs from the official election results, researchers say they have encountered potential abuses. For example, more than 10,000 voters may have voted in multiple counties.
Authorities in Maricopa County were annoyed by such claims. They complain in an official statement on Twitter that Cyber Ninjas has handled submitted data messily. As a result, information would have been distorted to paint the picture “that something has gone wrong”.
There has been discussion for months about the trustworthiness of the company the investigation conducted. According to The New York Times, Cyber Ninjas CEO Doug Logan has been spreading the unproven theory that Trump lost in Arizona due to tampering with voting machines.