The Arizona Democratic Party filed a lawsuit on Thursday seeking to stop the state’s Senate from carrying out an audit of the 2020 election results in Maricopa County.
The complaint, filed in Maricopa County Superior Court, comes just before the audit was set to begin on Friday. In preparation, 2.1 million ballots, as well as voting equipment that includes 385 tabulators, were delivered to the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix, the site of the planned audit.
An emergency court hearing was scheduled for the case, CV2021-006646, at 11 a.m. on Friday.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Chris Coury on Friday ordered a halt to the audit of votes after the hearing.
Coury said the pause is meant to be temporary. It starts at 5 p.m. Friday and runs through noon on Monday, April 26.
Coury on Friday held open the possibility of extending the pause during Monday’s hearing.
The audit will only stop if the Arizona Democratic Party posts a $1 million bond meant to compensate the Arizona Senate for any expenses they get if they were wrongly enjoined.
